Effective leadership remains fundamentally the same regardless of location. It's the context that changes, not the core principles. The key is to think “leadership first, location second".

While the physical setting may vary, the essential aspects of human behaviour, interaction, and needs remain constant, making it crucial for leaders to maintain their foundational leadership skills while adapting to new working environments.

Kevin Eikenberry is an author, business owner, speaker, and podcaster. He co-wrote The Long Distance Leader and runs the Remote Leadership Institute. He’s been leading remote teams for about 15 years and specialises in remote and hybrid leadership training.

Three reasons to listen

• Learn principles that remain relevant even as workplace dynamics continue evolving
• Understand why many leaders push for return-to-office, through a compassionate lens
• Discover how the pandemic transformed leadership practices, particularly in developing greater empathy and attention to individual team member circumstances

Episode highlights

• [00:07:59] Writing The Long Distance Leader
• [00:13:21] Why many leaders prefer to bring people back to the office
• [00:18:05] Recapturing the magic
• [00:21:57] The shifting social views of work in history
• [00:24:35] Mindset and skillset for remote leadership
• [00:27:34] The problem with "busy"
• [00:30:49] Intention without action
• [00:32:04] Flexible Leadership
• [00:34:37] Kevin's media recommendations
• [00:35:50] Takeaways from Pia and Dan

Links

• The Long-Distance Leader: Rules for Remarkable Remote and Hybrid Leadership, by Kevin Eikenberry and Wayne Turmel
• Building Confidence in Yourself & Others – Kevin’s free masterclass for podcast listeners
• The Remarkable Leadership Podcast
• Connect with Kevin via LinkedIn
• Books by Og Mandino
• Track and improve your team performance with Squadify
• Leave us a voice note

Most managers are unprepared for their roles, with 82% having no management training at all. Effective team leadership needs structured, accessible tools to help managers build psychological safety, connection, and engagement with their teams.

Jennifer Dulski is the founder and CEO of Rising Team, a software-guided interactive learning platform for managers to develop their teams. Rising Team helps leaders build insights and deeper connections with their teams through structured development kits and short sessions that can be conducted virtually or in-person.

Three reasons to listen

• Learn how software is helping managers develop their teams more effectively
• Understand how to measure and improve psychological safety, connection, engagement, and retention in teams
• Discover practical tools for team development that work for both office teams and frontline workers

Episode highlights

• [00:10:01] Rising Team
• [00:21:26] The four Cs of developing leaders
• [00:23:20] The increase in overwhelming challenges faced by managers
• [00:26:50] "Can every manager really do it?
• [00:29:50] Making space for different cognitive styles and skillsets
• [00:32:30] Create a personal user manual
• [00:34:45] Advice for senior execs
• [00:37:21] Jennifer's media recommendation
• [00:39:00] Takeaways from Pia and Dan

Links

• Connect with Jennifer via LinkedIn
• 6 Lessons All Leaders Can Learn From Maverick
• Rising Team
• A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity, by Nicholas Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn
• Lessons in Chemistry – Jennifer’s TV recommendation
• Track and improve your team performance with Squadify
• Leave us a voice note

Engagement surveys and team data are tools for understanding and supporting teams, not targets to achieve or sticks to beat people with.

Simply gathering data for the sake of a good score is counterproductive and potentially disengaging. This information should be used to genuinely understand team dynamics, spot trends, and identify areas where support is needed to build authentic engagement and commitment to the organisation.

Jenni McNeil is the head of Information Security at Contact Energy in New Zealand. She leads a geographically diverse team focused on protecting the cyber resilience of the organisation. Jenni started in sales and became a manager at 25, switching to technology as an IT support technician before pivoting to cybersecurity.

Her current team includes a mix of experience levels, from recent graduates to industry veterans with 25 years of experience, spread across different locations.

Three reasons to listen

• Learn how to effectively monitor team dynamics in a remote work environment through digital listening and virtual water-cooler spaces
• Understand the true value of engagement surveys as tools for understanding workforce trends and identifying areas for support, not just scoring metrics
• Discover strategies for managing geographically dispersed teams while maintaining connection without micromanaging

Episode highlights

• [00:08:53] Leading a geographically-spread team
• [00:11:21] Pros and cons of engagement surveys
• [00:18:24] Ethics of AI in employee engagement
• [00:24:17] What to read when gathering data
• [00:26:30] Holding the data lightly
• [00:29:17] Jenni's media recommendations
• [00:30:32] Takeaways from Pia and Dan

Links

• Connect with Jenni via LinkedIn
• A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J Maas
• In Pursuit of the Secure Board (Spotify-only show)
• Track and improve your team performance with Squadify
• Leave us a voice note