In April 2020, as we were scrambling to adjust to the tidal wave of uncertainty associated with lockdown, I was wrestling with the reality of adjusting to online lecturing, schooling from home, and managing a host of work-related projects.
At the same time, I was having numerous conversations with leaders about what these radical changes meant for the world of work. I had been plotting a book on the Future of work with my co-author (Dr Naeema Pasha) and it suddenly felt that this was the right time to start writing this book.
The book is a clear reflection of the turbulence we experienced in 2020, including how organisations needed to come to terms with workplace activism and the increasingly urgent need to reskill to stay relevant. Nine months later (yes!) the manuscript was with our amazing commissioning editor and this book was on its way.
What I realised later was the book provided a huge opportunity to take the big changes that were frankly overwhelming and spent time speaking to leaders in different industries about how they witnessed the impact of these shocks to organisations and how we viewed ourselves and our relationship with work. As the book was published in the UK in October, the feedback has been so positive. This is just the start of the journey with so many discussions about what the next normal means for leadership.
Over the next month, I’m looking forward to participating in the Global Women’s Forum in Paris discussing the impact of Innovation on Leadership and how we address the impact of Covid on Gender Equality – join the discussion online.