Testing Leadership with Telecommuting

This evening I met with Pat Coyle and other Smoosiers at Pat’s Open House at Smaller Indiana Headquarters.

One great discussion I had was with Lalita Amos, a Leadership Coach and Human Resource Specialist, Purdue Alumni, and Adjunct Professor at NYU. I had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Lalita when I spoke to the IABC about the use of Social Networks within companies.

Lalita made note that technology is actually forcing managers to become better leaders. One of the byproducts of telecommuting is that managers aren’t able to micromanage, judge one by their looks or listen to office gossip to create a false impression. Telecommuting requires managers to communicate effectively, manage schedules properly, trust their employees, set and maintain effective performance plans and goals, as well as gauge their personnel’s performance on their actual performance!

Nothing might put a weak leader over the edge than enacting a solid telecommuting program! Although it brings a host of other challenges, a great leader can drive incredible productivity through a program such as this, while improving employee satisfaction and retention. Of course, with the price of gas exceeding $4/gal, there’s a monetary incentive as well.