Today we are at the M in the Virtual and Remote Leadership Series. One of the most important characteristics I think virtual and remote team leaders can have is that of a maverick. The Oxford Dictionary defines maverick as:
Maverick: An unorthodox or independent-minded person - Oxford Dictionary
As virtual team leaders our ability to be unorthodox with our thinking, solutions and approaches can be very important, especially if our organization is just starting to embrace virtual teams.
It is likely that developing out of the box solutions will be common place, as is supporting our team members to do similar types of thinking on their own.
AS virtual and remote team leaders we are often having to innovate in new areas, and come up with practices and processes that have not existed before. Being a maverick means innovating, AND it also means being respectful in our disruption.
I always think of my last virtual team leadership role where I instituted an annual face-to-face two-day retreat for team members. When I started my role, I asked the office about how often the team got together. The team was based across ten countries, and prior to my start had never met physically in almost 30 years. The lost cost of sharing of experience across these countries, and innovation was apparent. Hobbling together funding from different sources the first year of my leadership, and a lot of flexibility and good will on the part of the team, I was able to bring people together for three days. The output was immediately recognizable by not only my team but our superiors, and became an easy selling point for the following years' budgets.
Questions to consider:
What does maverick mean to you? Your organization? Your context?
What's important about being a maverick?
What maverick role models do you have?
What actions would be in service to the team? The organization?
Enjoy your week,
Jennifer
Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326
It is likely that developing out of the box solutions will be common place, as is supporting our team members to do similar types of thinking on their own.
AS virtual and remote team leaders we are often having to innovate in new areas, and come up with practices and processes that have not existed before. Being a maverick means innovating, AND it also means being respectful in our disruption.
I always think of my last virtual team leadership role where I instituted an annual face-to-face two-day retreat for team members. When I started my role, I asked the office about how often the team got together. The team was based across ten countries, and prior to my start had never met physically in almost 30 years. The lost cost of sharing of experience across these countries, and innovation was apparent. Hobbling together funding from different sources the first year of my leadership, and a lot of flexibility and good will on the part of the team, I was able to bring people together for three days. The output was immediately recognizable by not only my team but our superiors, and became an easy selling point for the following years' budgets.
Questions to consider:
What does maverick mean to you? Your organization? Your context?
What's important about being a maverick?
What maverick role models do you have?
What actions would be in service to the team? The organization?
Enjoy your week,
Jennifer
Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326
RSS Feed
