Importance of Building Connection and Leadership Virtually

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the workforce into turmoil, presenting significant economical and organizational challenges. Virtual leadership involves the extensive implementation of management skills. It makes it difficult for leaders to motivate people to change their behaviors by tapping into their weaknesses and concerns.

Therefore, Kathy Ball-Toncic, a corporate and leadership coach, certified Dare to Lead Facilitator, and founder of the 262 Group, Inc., aims to create transparent, integrated, and courageous workplaces. For her, all it takes is to leverage her business skills and leadership development expertise to become an inspiration and motivation for other leaders. 

We thought of collaborating with Kathy to discuss how she uses digital tools like Howspace in her work along with other leaders at the 262 Group, Inc. 

Shaping Leadership in the Virtual world

Let’s begin with leadership in a virtual work environment. 

What change does virtual mode have on leadership?

Kathy believes that creating a virtual connection after transformation seemed impossible at first, but her perspective on the subject has completely changed now it requires time and effort but is absolutely possible. The pandemic has reinforced and emphasized the essential requirement for emotionally intelligent and masterful leaders.

"Great leaders distinguish themselves from outstanding leaders by their capacity to comprehend emotions."

As a leadership coach and certified Dare to LeadTM facilitator, you work with leaders to help them become courageous. We'd like to learn more about the initiative and your role as a leader.

Dare to Lead, based on Brené Brown's studies on bravery, vulnerability, shame, and empathy, is the ultimate playbook for creating brave leaders and courageous environments, according to Kathy. Kathy was fortunate enough to be directly educated by Brené to take individuals, teams, and organizations through the actionable and measurable skills of courageous leadership as a certified Dare to Lead Facilitator.

Brene's key discovery showed courage as a collection of four educational, observable, and accessible skill sets. Kathy's goal as a facilitator was to help people acquire these abilities so they could better coach others.

Individual Engagement

Let us now focus on leadership development. As a leadership coach, how would you explain the process and your contribution?

According to Kathy, leadership development is all about everyone's involvement in their own distinct pathways. The coach's job is to encourage them along the way, to reflect, to keep their values in high regard, and to remind them about them when they tend to forget.

Although the Dare to Lead course involves multiple group sessions, there is so much more learning that takes place in between. It is critical to each individual's development to be able to engage participants both before and after the sessions. As a result, a leadership coach must be able to engage others.

What functions do virtual platforms play in your programs?

Kathy stated that she wanted a tool to assist her in creating a more secure environment for collaboration. That's when Howspace came into the picture. Now,  Kathy can engage with all participants on the platform, ensuring that everyone is seen and heard. Virtual engagement becomes considerably more engaging as a result of it along with linking to the fundamental components of growth.

One of Howspace's best features is its user-friendly approach. Howspace is simple and intuitive that her users were able to figure out how to utilize it in no time. As a result, she was able to save a significant amount of time.

“Howspace changed Kathy’s life”

You told us that in the past, you used simple emails to send out information and assignments, but that you didn't have a solid means to engage with your consumers over the internet. How would you describe your work's use of Howspace?

According to Kathy, Howspace provides a facilitator with a variety of exciting opportunities to interact and engage with participants along with supporting them in their journey. With Howspace, she learns something new every day. She is pleased to see that participants can now connect with one another, share ideas, offer support, and have a sense of connection.

Tips for Facilitating Leadership Development Programs Virtually

You mentioned that managing online programs has been a valuable learning experience for you. What recommendations would you provide to someone who is building together a virtual leadership development program?

Kathy’s tips are as follows:

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