The second article of Leadership is a Conversation has an interesting theme of inclusiveness. I agree with the approach of keeping an open channel of communication and giving the employees a voice in the direction of the company. People at every level of the organization have great ideas! Watching an episode of "Undercover Boss" on TV will show you that you should listen to your employees and hear what they say when there is no penalty for saying the wrong thing. These "listening sessions" often uncover miscommunications and ideas!

The first article of 8 Essential Leadership Communication Skills outlines much of the learned textbook skills of open communication and engaging. I would like to learn more about if these skills have changed at all to evolve with the remote environment. Body language is more difficult over the web. I would also add one additional item to consider that it is important to show your weaknesses as well. By always asking the employee about what their thoughts I think you always tend to go last. I have had colleagues who ask me for my opinion and then they change their thought to align with my idea but never tell me that they changed rather they make it look like they always were in agreement (although I know they weren't :-).

My name is Riaz Baxamusa - I am currently with Astellas as an Associate Director in the US IME team. I have been in IME for about 15 years now in a variety of roles from management of grant coordinators to my current role as a member of a two-person team. Fun facts: I enjoy travelling and am a marathon runner. This year I am scheduled to run the Berlin marathon and the Chicago marathon (two weeks apart) :-)