Leading from afar

Here's the recap...Well, we've likely arrived at the close of Leading from Afar. Over the past 4 seasons, we've spoken with outstanding leaders about what and how the future of work will look like. In today's episode, I talked to Adam Nathan, the CEO of Almanac about the history of work. From the industrial revolution up through the CoVid remote revolution and beyond. We dove into what defined each period or version of work. The good, the bad, and the ugly. The similarities and differences in the following period/version of work. And what influences we'll see in the future of work. Things like how to measure productivity, employee engagement, mission-driven work, and so much more. Unlike previous episodes where each was topic focused with takeaways, this is more a thinking-out-loud conversation.

Here's the recap...In today's episode, I spoke with Alex Spahn one of the co-founders of one of my favorite under-the-radar tools, Gomada. Today's conversation was all about team engagement and the need for remote leaders to have intentionality in doing so. We dove into the topics focusing both on Alex as a leader of a remote company and also as someone building a product, especially for this. This still remains one of the biggest needs for remote managers. Up-skilling on how and why intentionality is so crucial.

Here's the recap...In today's episode, I chatted with my good friend Peter Benei about how to up-skill remote leadership. Peter has been helping numerous remote organizations train their managers and enable them to build a learning culture. Companies just took what they were doing in the office and did it remotely when the lockdown came. 3 years later few companies have invested in learning to do it right. In this episode, we dive into the pros and cons of remote learning, what specific skills remote managers need to focus on, how to make remote L&D more collaborative, and much more.

Here's the recap...In today's episode, I sat down with Franco Castaldini the GM of HiFive. A product incubated within Siemens (yes the global conglomerate) to solve their own issues around employee engagement and what the future of the office looks like. They built a product to help teams not only know who will be in the office and when to better organize office visits. But to automatically foster connections and coffee meetings between those who are in the office that day. We chatted about what office utilization has looked like, why people do or don't want to come into an office, what companies need to think about regarding redesigning their office space, and much more.   

Here's the recap...Today's class should turn into an online course as it's an absolute masterpiece. Liz Leary who has been planning and running IRLs for Trello & Atlassian for years drops so much knowledge it could barely be contained in 1 episode. We covered everything you need to know whether you're thinking about or currently planning on getting the team together. How often, where to get together, what to do when there, and the small details easily forgotten. Like what about those parents left behind by your employee with the kids? Paying for takeout and babysitting can make or break someone coming and having a great time.

Here's the recap. This is the second episode of three about the topic of IRLs. In today's show, I sat down with my buddy Peter Fabor, CEO of Surf Office. We did a deep dive into how to create a memorable IRL. And how he's used his own company offering to create his team's experiences. We spoke about choosing a location, what are companies doing at gatherings, how often the team should get together, why small details like dietary restrictions can make or break the experience, and more. Another invaluable conversation backed by the experience of his team planning and organizing countless IRLs for other companies, as well as, their own.

Here's the recap...Why does Doist have probably the best remote culture around? Because they are thoughtful and intentional about every experience. And it doesn't hurt to have Chase Warrington helping lead this experience. In this episode, I finally got to sit down with Chase to geek out about getting the team together. This has been a passion topic of mine recently and he's been quite transparent about the experiences creating and running #irl experiences for his team. This is the 1st of 3 episodes about the topic. We did a real deep dive into what IRLs are, their impact, how often, what to do with them, and so much more. If you or your team are thinking about or planning a company irl, subscribe so you don't miss any of these game-changing posts.   

Here's the recap...Welcome to Season 4 of Leading from Afar. Today's episode can only be thought of as a masterclass. There's a reason Darcy is one of the most sought-after remote leaders and thinkers. Every minute of conversation was priceless and filled with takeaways. Very few companies do culture well (though they all think they do). If you want to know what real world-class culture pieces are for remote teams this is your episode. We spoke about topics like when culture officially begins & ends, why documentation is so crucial to remote teams, who owns company culture, what can individual managers and company leaders do to create better employee experiences, and so much more...

Here's the recap....This was the 1st podcast about remote work done IRL. I recently visited Berlin to meet a bunch of folks I've built relationships with remotely over the past few years. I was super excited to meet my new remote BFF, Daphnée, to record a joint podcast. We dove into multiple topics critical to the future of work. Like the importance of face-to-face time for remote teams, async by default is the future of work, team building, and so much more.

Here's the recap...In today's episode, I sat down with Valentina Thörner the Empress of Remote to talk about mental health and what individual remote leaders can be doing to improve the mental health of their team and create more transparent environments for sharing how everyone is feeling.  In this episode, we focus on how you as a leader within a larger team can start improving your team's mental health if the company isn't yet focused on it. And of course, what you as a leader can be doing to support your own mental health.

Here's today's recap...In today's episode, I'm joined by Danielle Farage for a deep dive on the topic of quiet quitting. What is it, who does it affect, is it a short-term fad, and what can company leaders do to prevent it? Talk around quiet quitting started a number of months back and focused specifically on Gen-Z'ers. Yet, when you look at the various reasons why people are quiet quitting you see this is an everyone issue and in my belief at the heart of the future of work. Where people put their own happiness & well-being front and center. Not their work.

Here's the recap..In today's episode, I spoke with Sid Pandiya, CEO of Kona. I've been a huge fan of Kona since their earliest beta days. I've been a big advocate in supporting the mental health of my team and understand I need help in gauging and gathering feedback to better understand it. Where Kona comes in. Today we did a deep dive into what leaders need to be doing today to better support their remote team's mental health and happiness. Both are linked to better engagement within the workplace. We discussed what we've done, the tools to use (including a bunch of free ones), and most importantly what to do when we get the information we're after.

Here's the recap...Remote can work for some teams like Engineering and Customer Support but not Sales. Then CoVid strikes. Then Sales can't do async because they need lots of together time to feed off each other's energy, high-five, etc. But I've learned from this conversation and from recent experience that async will be a superpower and major unlock for Sales teams. Like the rest of the organization. In this episode, I spoke with a former colleague and fellow remote OG, Ryan Burke, how about how Sales teams can thrive asynchronously. Interestingly enough, how he started building in-person teams at InVision but over time pivoted to hiring anywhere and since going all in on async at Qatalog. If you're running a remote Sales team this is a must-listen.

Here's the recap...I've been quite interested in hearing some stories of how some tech giants pivoted to remote work. While most were and are still desperate to go back to the office, others fully embraced it and have been super successful in moving toward the future of work. In this episode, I spoke with Meaghan Williams who months before the pandemic had already started the company on its journey. I was honestly blown away at how much thoughtfulness and effort went into building an equitable hybrid and remote experience even before the world shut down. This significantly helped them go fully remote overnight with little hiccup and continually design an optimal experience for those staying remote forever and those who came back to or eventually want to be in an office X days a week. This was probably the most enjoyable episode I've recorded to date and learned so much.  

Here's the recap. In today's episode of Leading from Afar I chat with my good buddy Jakob Knutzen, CEO of Butter about sync meetings. Nope, it's not a type. I didn't mean async. Since Jakob is building the most engaging sync video tool, I thought we'd discuss why we all hate sync meetings and how to redesign them to be more impactful. We started off discussing the why's of calling a sync meeting. Then going deeper into when of those why's, to have a sync meeting. Finally, we discuss the how of doing a sync meeting the right way. Spoiler: Proper sync meetings have quite a bit of async embedded.  

For a full transcript check out  https://bit.ly/3D2nluK

Here's the recap...In today's episode, I sat down with one of the foremost experts in async communication, Liam Martin. Liam is a fellow remote OG and writing the book about async (stay tuned)! This episode continued the series on how individual leaders working at remote companies not embracing the best practices of the future of work can do so within their individual teams. So today's focus was on how leaders can implement async leadership & communication with their direct reports. We talked a lot about writing, data, and the need for radical transparency.   If you're a team leader or company leader thinking async makes a whole of sense and want to move away from pointless Zoom calls this episode is for you.  

Here's the recap...In today's episode, I spoke with Tania Kefs, the CEO & Co-founder of Jurnee. Like me, she's working on building her next company. We wanted to focus the conversation on the individual leaders within the company and what they can do to build better cultures and engagement. Even just within their team. Building amazing company cultures can be done from the bottom up (though not recommended). We dive into the challenges individual leaders have within a remote organization, what are the easy changes to implement within their teams, and more.

Here's the recap...In this episode, I chatted with my buddy, Tyler Sellhorn, the Head of Remote at Polygon. Some companies are still struggling to realize the future of work is now here. The years of work building culture and operations based in an office has to be tossed in the rubbish bin. Many companies that went remote during the pandemic are still fakin' it till they make it. Making the newly popular role 'Head of Remote' quite intriguing. Tyler and I chatted about what the role is and isn't. Who should hire one and who's just wasting time. And is the Head of Remote really the new COO?

Here's the recap...In this episode, I chatted with my good friend, Lee Rubin, the CEO & Co-founder of Confetti. Remote work is now the standard of work (finally!) As teams will stop looking back, looking forward will need to focus on how to build deeper relationships remotely. IRL opportunities will be crucial for this. But what can teams do in between to ensure their teams are fostering trust and bonds when no longer working together. Team fun, games, and similar are a great way for a team to connect while not working. We shared ideas and tips about what types of events your team can start running today. Including taking offline/siloed events and build interaction and connecting online.

Here's the recap...In this episode, I spoke with Dror Poleg. A futurist about work, offices, crypto, and more. We broke down a couple of points from a recent post of his about a Crypto Future of Work. First off, how companies and the idea of a team may get replaced by DAOs. Meaning team members get compensated based on contribution. Second, how the concept of a unified team with solving a joint mission may change. Perhaps with a core team where contributors swap in & out regularly to solve specific tasks or challenges. We're already starting to see the first changes in this direction. This was an amazing talk trying to forecast what work will look like in the upcoming years.

Here's the recap...In this episode, I spoke with Yoel Israel about his journey from hating remote work to being one of Israel's leading advocates for the future of work. I'm excited to share his journey on his transformation. We started off discussing why he was so against remote work. Both as a leader and as an extrovert. We spoke about what the experience was like going remote overnight and what he and his team did to shift to remote work. Yoel shared what he's done to loosen his need for total control and shift to a mindset of trust. We also spoke about all the amazing benefits his team has experienced since going all-in on remote. And btw he's 2x his team since.

Here's the recap...In this episode, I spoke with Dror Poleg. A futurist about work, offices, crypto, and more. We broke down a couple of points from a recent post of his about a Crypto Future of Work. First off, how companies and the idea of a team may get replaced by DAOs. Meaning team members get compensated based on contribution. Second, how the concept of a unified team with solving a joint mission may change. Perhaps with a core team where contributors swap in & out regularly to solve specific tasks or challenges. We're already starting to see the first changes in this direction. This was an amazing talk trying to forecast what work will look like in the upcoming years.

Here's the recap...In today's episode, I chatted with Tom Willmot, CEO & Co-founder @Human Made.  I came across Human Made's publicly available employee handbook a number of weeks back. It was pretty awesome (you can find it below). Its effort was to ensure all important and relevant employee information was centralized and available to everyone. Including folks outside of Human Made. The last. year plus there's been a major push in the build-in public idea. At the same time, young startups I putting a deeper focus on building world-class cultures and creating public-facing documents for everyone's value. This episode was all about how can company leaders develop more and deeper trust in their teams. Especially when they don't see them 'working.' We dive into specific ways and changes every leader can make today to improve.

We also spoke about how that trust is a two-way street. As a leader, you want to build that trust but that can only be done if your team trusts you as much. This is where transparency comes to play in examples like their employee handbook. Providing deep insights into the health, vision, and workings of the company provides confidence in your team that they're always in the loop. Better helping them understand the impact they can make with their work.

If you're a leader who went remote during the pandemic and was (and still is) struggling with trust and transparency within your organization, this episode is for you...

Here's the recap...In today's episode, I chatted with serial entrepreneur Brian Casel, CEO of ZipMessage.  We took a deep dive into asynchronous communications. Focusing on a new trend of asynchronous hiring. We spoke about the benefits of asynchronous be default remote cultures. Helping employees flip the switch from living to work to working to live. However, we noted the slippery slope async may lead to. Without synchronous team engagement, it could break company culture. So how does hiring someone without ever speaking with them live help the company ensure culture & team fit? If you're expanding your remote team this year and interested in how hiring synchronously vs asynchronously may affect the quality of hires, listen in...

Here's the recap...In today's episode, I chatted with Danielle Farage, Director of Growth & Marketing at Café.  We spoke about how companies should be thinking about how hybrid remote can possibly work. The success is around flexibility. We spoke about the difference between companies and their employees in wanting a central HQ or the ability for more flexible and local spaces. We spoke about whether the power of tools like Cafe was for companies to understand space utilization (costs), or for insights into when/where their employees will be. Thus using the data to plan those in-person events to further utilize the face time. We discussed, how community will play a crucial role in the future of hybrid remote. Whether that be work community at a central HQ or localize community in a one-off space. If your team is thinking about this central HQ vs localized space, this episode is perfect for you...

Here's the recap...In today's episode, I chatted with Natalie Nagele, an OG of remote-work. Natalie is the CEO & Co-founder @ Wildbit.  We spoke about how companies should be thinking about engaging their in-office vs remote employees. Whether to do hybrid events where some people are in person and others are virtual, or separating engagement opportunities by cohort, or doing virtual only. We also spoke about different types of virtual team fun you can implement and how often you should do so. Finally, we discussed how proximity bias may impact promotions & career trajectory for hybrid teams.

In today's episode, we chatted with Jing Herman, a Co-founder @ 28Muses and Head of the Future of Work community on Upstream.  We spoke about how companies should be thinking about engaging their in-office vs remote employees. Whether to do hybrid events where some people are in person and others are virtual, or separating engagement opportunities by cohort, or doing virtual only. We also spoke about different types of virtual team fun you can implement and how often you should do so. If you're looking into different ways to build better bonds within your team and give them some time for fun, this episode is for you.  

Here's the recap...Welcome to Season 2!! In today's episode, we chatted with Amy Spurling, the CEO & Co-founder @ Compt.  We spoke about how most benefits packages offered by companies today are rarely used and therefore greatly underappreciated. Whether the company selects specific types of perks like a mental health app, gym memberships, or ping pong tables it's not providing value to all employees. We discuss the future approach of companies replacing this method with stipends for a specific topic. Allowing the individual employee to decide what health means to them and getting the maximum value from that stipend.

Learning & Development is a core fundamental of successful teams and healthy cultures. But how can remote teams successfully up-skill thru L&D without sitting together in a classroom?

In today's episode, we chatted with Susana de Sousa, the Sr Manager of Support @ Loom.  We spoke about how L&D helped her up-skill while at Airbnb, and how it helped her grow from a first hire at Loom to building and leading a global Support team. We discussed how essential L&D is for company culture and employee success. Should L&D be focused on the hard skill of a current role or be more focused on what your team wants to learn? We shared some ideas on how to make remote learning more collaborative. And so much more...

Here's the recap...In today's episode, we chatted with Jarron Tate (JT), Director of Sales @ Roots.  We spoke about how to provide 1:1 feedback to your team; both positive & negative. We spoke about what formats to use (text, video, audio). How often to provide it. And creating a habit of daily personal check-ins with your team. Why it helps your team better receive constructive feedback. 

In today's episode, we chatted with Tony Jamous, CEO & Co-founder @ Oyster. This was an all-inclusive conversation covering multiple topics of great remote leadership. We spoke about topics like when to hire people you know, how to support your own mental health, communication protocols within a remote company, opportunities to meet IRL, and more. Lots of goodness in this episode.  

Ask any remote work leader about the hybrid model, and their assessment isn't positive. How to handle a culture mixed between in-office & remote workers will be almost impossible. Yet, there is a use case where it may work. It's based simply on the flexibility of that office. Allowing employees to choose if/how/when/why they'll spend time in an office vs vice versa. In this episode, we speak with Jessica Hayes the VP of People at Whereby. Whereby has been a 'remote first' hybrid company. Having 2 official office spaces and a few unofficial ones. She discusses how companies can use offices to their advantage in the future of work.

As CoVid begins to wind down, companies are starting to think about whether there's a purpose to the office post-pandemic. Many companies that went remote during the pandemic are looking at the hybrid remote model. Whether for productivity, team engagement or simply it's easier for the company. We'll discuss why companies should (or really shouldn't) go hybrid.