A LinkedIn post fell into my feed, and it was popular! 26k likes, over 800 comments and almost 2,000 reposts. The post was from a ‘Chief of Staff’ sharing an exchange with one of their team after they’d asked to work from home permanently. The response was simple: “As long as the work gets done, I don’t care whether you work from the South Pole or the office. I hired you for a job and I trust you to get it done”.
The sentiment, rooted in trust, is undeniably powerful. But the post’s conclusion left me feeling perplexed, “…if you focus on presence, you get presence. If you focus on results, you get results”. At first glance this sounds appealing. Sort of up there with “Let’s run it up the flagpole and see who salutes” or “Let’s shake the tree and see what falls out”.
But focusing solely on results is counterintuitive to good leadership and overlooks what makes organisations great places to work. Us. Humans. People.
Post-Covid and remote work is a welcome adaptation to working life. It frees us from 3-hour commutes and crowded trains, allows us flexibility, greater autonomy and better work-life balance. But 70,000 years of evolution, human interaction is hardwired into our DNA. We are social animals and while Zoom and Slack are useful tools we must not ignore or replace the value of being together.
If the focus is purely on results and productivity this is a business that is managed, not led. Leadership is about inspiring, motivating and empowering, building connections, collaboration and in-person interactions that create the environment needed for those results to happen in the first place.
Remember Mehrabian’s Communication Model? 93% of the context in our communication comes through non-verbal cues such as tone, body language, or facial expressions. Things that that the Zoom rectangle, Slack DM or ‘copy all’ email removes.
Trust is undoubtedly a cornerstone of leadership, as the LinkedIn post rightly notes. You should trust your team to get the job done wherever they are. But there’s a balance to strike. Effective leadership isn’t just about achieving results or showing up—it’s about fostering a sense of belonging and purpose within a team.
It’s not an all-or-nothing argument. The flexibility of remote work is great, but we need to make sure that we’re not losing the human element along the way, because being there ‘in-person’ is the only way to nurture a sense of connection, collaboration and feel part of something bigger than ourselves.
You can trust your employees to work from anywhere, whether in the South Pole or South Shields — but don’t overlook the irreplaceable value of being together. Presence in the office isn’t about control, nor just about getting the job done—it’s about cultivating a shared vision and team cohesion, creating environments where connection, collaboration and inspiration thrive, where spontaneity leads to innovation and growth.
So to our friend asking to work from home permanently I’d say “I trust you to get the job done, but our best ideas and strongest relationships come from working together in person. It’s not just about the work—it’s about fostering an environment where we can share ideas, support each other and grow together.”
FEED Consulting Limited is here to help you, your teams and your business unlock potential and achieve success together. #leadership #remote-working #personaldevelopment #training
