1. Instill a sense of ownership

A team is only as strong as its weakest player—this refers beyond an employee’s capability to their commitment level. Hicham believes being a leader isn’t just about the ability to lead a group, but also the ability to make them feel equally invested in the company’s progress and growth. “One of the things I do on a daily basis is to ensure that everyone feels like the owner of the company,” he shares.

“Creating this culture of entrepreneurship and ownership starts at the recruitment process where we identify these attributes in the candidates,” Hicham adds. When every member feels like they’re an equal stakeholder, not only do they feel included, but are also more motivated to help the company achieve its goals.

This culture of investment forms as leaders continually inspire their team with the bigger picture. “It takes consistent communication and transparency on your vision, strategy, and objectives, and more importantly, having everyone contribute to building all of that in a ground-up, inclusive manner,” says Hicham.

3. Adapt to different forms of leadership

It can be easy to forget that everyone has personal lives and stressors outside of work, and the lack of face-to-face interaction makes this even more pronounced. Hicham realised the need to care for his team’s mental health, despite the physical distance. “During this period, we started developing a close form of leadership, by listening more closely to the team and bringing them closer to the resources. It was about trying to understand what matters to each one.” 

Ultimately, leadership has to be flexible. “We’re creating a new work order,” Hicham noted. “We’re learning how to work in new and different ways, and we’ll be keeping what we gained from the pandemic.” Learning how to adapt to difficult situations while establishing strong ties with your team sets you apart as a personable and reliable leader. 

4. Create avenues for bonding

The physical environment shapes the way we interact with each other. At Bridge+ 79 Robinson Road where Rahul and his team operates in, they uncovered business partnerships organically. “You have the flexibility to co-create and meet different people within the same space,” Rahul says, noting how the unique structure allowed for a flow of business that a regular office space might not have been able to facilitate.

Yet when work moves to an online realm, our interactions with each other transform too. “At first, did you find it difficult to communicate?” Hicham asked. “Yes, nothing substitutes face-to-face interaction,” Rahul concurred. “When you’re on Zoom, you’re more focused on work; you don’t talk about your kids or your family. So the chance for discovery is lost.”

The two swapped stories on how their unique improvisations helped with the loss of small talk. For Rahul, it was as simple as a quiz. “We had onboarding done online, so for new colleagues, we had a quiz with everyone about how tall they were, because it’s actually hard to judge size and build through a screen.” Hicham opted to liven up things through virtual celebrations, and made sure everyone participated. “Since it’s virtual, we had to make it a little stricter, so we asked everyone to switch on their cameras and participate.”

Whether virtual or in-person, what mattered was the consistency and quality of the interactions. “Just because we can’t see each other every day, doesn’t mean we can’t form new habits with the technology available,” Hicham summarised.

5. Look forward

Leaders are visionaries who work towards positive growth. The discussion ended with both of them remarking how there was light at the end of the tunnel. “We’re progressively getting out of this stronger,” Hicham adds. “We need to remember that resilience is key.” Their aim for the immediate future? Keep everyone safe and work towards a brighter tomorrow. “I want everyone and their families to be safe,” Rahul adds. “I also wish that all of us will be able to invest and buy bonds—but that’s a different type of objective we're aiming for!”

During challenging times, Rahul and Hicham have banded together with their teams to support each other. While they’ve not been able to work from the office for a while, they're looking forward to coming back. “Never give up, never stay or work alone,” says Hicham. “Something I’m looking forward to the most about returning to the office is having more in-person interactions, ideation, and working sessions; there is so much energy we get out of it.”