We all want teams that have a strong sense of teamwork and a dedication to workplace excellence. Working with capable, amiable, and amusing people who like to get things done. Integrity and sharing are equally important. But who develops and builds this amazing team? Of course, a Leader. What if you get a leader who is always behind you on deadlines, has a biased approach, engages in micro-management, passes personal comments, openly uses foul language, and expects you to work on weekends even if you work late on weekdays? Having such leadership would be a nightmare for any of us.

Leadership with these characteristics will never benefit the organization. To some extent, it may yield positive outcomes initially if this team may work under pressure for a few days or weeks; however, in the long run, it will increase your attrition rate, employee dissatisfaction, and, last but not the least, anonymous reviews on glassdoor, indeed, google reviews, and social media, all of which will negatively impact the organization's image. Hence, when there are so many people working in a scattered manner owing to employee classifications such as WFH, Hybrid, and WFO all through pandemics, the value and significance of leadership increases to manage them proficiently.

According to the EY 2021 Work Reimagined Employee Survey. More than half (54%) of employees surveyed from around the world would consider leaving their job post-COVID-19 pandemic if they are not afforded some form of flexibility in where and when they work. In this instance, the importance of leadership traits can be critical for the organization in terms of employee management. People leave the manager, not the company, we all know. In this pandemic, good leadership can be a game changer for an organization, enacting employee trust in the organization. Immediate intervention can limit the damage. Open communication without delay entails giving an employee constructive feedback and precise and reliable descriptions of reality about what you know, what you anticipate, and what it tends to mean for an employee. Employee communication should be conclusive and easily understood. A leader must ensure that communication is a positive and optimistic vision of the future toward which employees can direct their effort because potential benefits are out of the question to accomplish without optimism. A good listening ability can aid in understanding the situation and in finding a solution to any problem shared by the employee. Even though the leader is unable to overcome the issue, the employee will feel at ease if the leader is present during the conversation. 

Over the last few years, AI (Artificial Intelligence) has become ubiquitous in a wide array of industries. Implementing AI technology to manage humans will be a helping hand for leaders to take over complex tasks. AI can manage emotional intelligence and enables us to identify and handle our own and several others' emotions in order to lessen conflict and improve human interaction. AI can assist business leaders to focus on employee work experience and to monitor each activity to create alert for upcoming challenges. An organization which is completely data-driven can take advantage of AI for organizational development and managing employees, proficiently. Amid pandemics, AI leadership skills that leaders will require are heavily oriented toward functional relationships and technology, as well as long-term strategic thinking and aspiration. Most organizations are moving towards AI technologies to provide a better work experience to their employees by empowering their leaders. Using AI can make the grievance process easier and faster for employees, allowing leaders to focus on the issues that need to be addressed. 

In conclusion, the role of leaders is not limited to managing teams in order to get work done, however we expect leaders to build a team to achieve organizational goals by instilling trust in one another. As a result, it is indispensable for organizations to identify potential and the right attitude in individuals before entrusting a team to lead. Individual performance or years of experience will not suffice to qualify any employee for the lead role. Although these accomplishments qualify someone to be a leader, yet it is insufficient without the essence of the right approach and attitude in person. A good leader must have the following characteristics: integrity, accountability, compassion and understanding, humility, resilience, perspective, influence, and enthusiasm. Those industries that can implement AI technology in employee management will see a significant impact on a leadership style that helps to integrate teams.