Leadership from afar: What I learned from an unplanned year away from my team
Jon Austin, executive creative director of Host/Havas, revisits the last 12 months to build a better workplace future.
Back in February 2020, when COVID-19 was still just a bad flu and the word ‘unprecedented’ was only overused in Cannes case studies, I headed back to New Zealand where my sons are, on the off-chance the borders closed for a couple weeks.
Cut to 14 months later, and I’ve finally arrived back in Australia, a little de-socialised and a lot wiser about the traits that make an effective leader, regardless of whether you’re doing it from afar or not.
Perhaps the most valuable lesson I learned (and something I wish I’d realised sooner) was the power of rocking the boat.
