As our office and work from home world continue to collide and reshape, I am constantly toying with what the future of work is; delving into the nitty-gritty of what it looks like, what it feels like, and how I want to show up within it.

Many of us want to design our business for the future, leading a team of people who are innovative, culturally diverse and global, however, something I want to add to the mix is the addition of; no set working hours, no set working days, and a team of individually motivated entrepreneurs living under one business roof.

The future of work and the future of business for me is to create a space where my employees live life as if they're running their own business without the risk of actually running it.

Hear me out

Statistics have shown that there have been reports of 828,000 workers from 2019/2020 who have suffered from work-related stress, depression or anxiety (Labour Force Survey), in addition to this, 17.9 million working days have been lost due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety (LFS). And this feels like only the tip of the iceberg, with Mind.org reporting that 1 in 6 people have stated to experience a common mental health problem, such as anxiety and depression, in any given week in England.

So why are these statistics on the rise? Further evidence explains that these feelings arise due to workload pressures, tight deadlines, too much responsibility, and a lack of managerial support. Now, these are found to be within an office space, so what about a work-from-home environment? Working from home isn't all sunshine and rainbows when many are unaware of how to structure their day or set relevant boundaries with team members and leaders, so have we ever considered educating our employees on how to do that? An epidemic amongst a pandemic is bound to cause further friction within the business world, therefore it's my mission within my Powerful Leaders to create a team who are happy. Plain and simple happy. To work in flow with an entrepreneurial mindset who has the security of a job, but the freedom to work for themselves. The best of both worlds some may say.

To be in flow is one thing, but to blend both work and life, successfully, is another. Powerful Leaders promotes access to expertise, the productization of ideas, and allowing those entrepreneurs who may have once ventured alone to feel part of something bigger, we're here to change the world. So often we are confronted with the societal 'box' of where we sit in life. Forming identities around our roles and often losing a sense of self in the process, but what if you could remove the separation and celebrate the element of streamlining both? With their own identities, thriving within a role that even when you removed the element of the business around them, they'd still be doing what they truly love.

Now that, is the future of work

So many of us have always wanted the freedom to work for ourselves, or to live the entrepreneurial life; have coffee in co-working spaces, meet other likeminded individuals, hit the gym in the afternoon during 'working hours'; well what if you could provide that for your team, all whilst giving them the security and structure that many entrepreneurs don't have?

I refuse to be a lonely leader, it really is no fun. I want to show up as my vulnerable, truth-speaking self, down in the trenches of work mode with my team but leading with integrity and courage. We have all lived a life with stories to tell, so why are we not framing processes and roles around individuals, instead of trying to just make them 'squeeze' into a role that we may want? A business of the future is in the process of happening now, so how are you adapting?

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Read more about my business and personal branding post-pandemic.