A Front-Seat leader is an individual who takes an active role, enabling everyone to embrace organizational change, challenges, and decision-making. To evolve into an effective modern-day leader, an individual must encompass three primary virtues or risk becoming an obstacle rather than an enabler for organizational growth. 

Accountability – “A Front Seat Leader is not someone who appears when things go well and disappears when they do not”, Melissa Drew. They recognize that active engagement is necessary rather than governance from a distance. This is echoed in a 2020 Harvard Business Review article highlighting that ethical accountability is directly correlated with perceived leadership trustworthiness and the team’s psychological safety. 

This is important because modern-day leaders operate with a level of fluidity that did not exist in the traditional leadership model.  Hybrid workers, more frequent disruptions, technological advancements, and fickle consumers require leaders to be multi-directional.  Their presence or lack thereof has become more visible than before, linking their lack of commitment and unwillingness to be held accountable.

Transparency – “Often, when a leader says nothing, they are really saying a lot.”, Melissa Drew. Remaining silent is not the same as remaining neutral. Silence will be misinterpreted, which can generate confusion and fear. It allows others to struggle with decisions, often without understanding the bigger picture and risks.

A leader who communicates freely allows others to understand not just the what and how, but the why behind ethical decisions (Deloitte, 2022). There has been more organizational change in the last decade than in the past century.   Staying silent may have been a traditional virtue richly rewarded, but in modern-day organizations, silence breeds mistrust.

Courage – “It is the front-seat leader who is aware of who is making decisions, why those decisions are made, and how those decisions are impacting the future of the organization.”  Melissa Drew. Ethical leadership is not leading when it is convenient; it is about doing what is right at a point in time when it matters the most.  Courageous leadership is a key trait to building resilient, adaptive cultures during ethical crises (Korn Ferry Institute, 2023).

This has become increasingly critical with the rise of AI-powered recommendations in goods and services, where biases and uncertainties are not easily recognized. Traditionally, making decisions that favor operational speed was encouraged and often celebrated. The courageous leader understands that exposing process limitations or taking the time to determine whether a decision will increase negative impacts is crucial. This is what is needed to build sustainable trust within the organization.

By MELISSA DREW

Keywords: Big Data, Digital Transformation, Leadership

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