March 26, 2025 • 15 mins
Are you finding it tough to lead remote teams with both compassion and efficiency? In this episode of Strong Leaders Serve, Teri Schmidt dives into the challenges leaders face in remote and hybrid environments, discussing the balance between driving results and maintaining empathetic connections.
Explore the neuroscience that influences our approach to leadership and gather actionable strategies to enhance team cohesion from afar. Get tips to make meaningful connections while fostering productivity, leaving your team engaged and thriving!
Looking for a community of leaders where you can tackle real challenges, share wins, and grow together—without office politics getting in the way? Join Leadership Thought Partners, a coach-led, group-directed space launching in July—early bird pricing ends May 31, 2025 at strongleadersserve.com/ltp!
Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teri-m-schmidt/
Get 1-on-1 leadership support from Teri here: https://www.strongleadersserve.com/coaching
Set up an intro call with Teri: https://calendly.com/terischmidt/discoverycall
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey, have you struggled to driveboth connection and results in
(00:04):
your remote and hybrid teams?
You're not alone.
Today's episode is for you.
I'm Terry Schmidt, executive andleadership coach at Strong
Leaders Serve, where we supportleaders in holding the tension
of caring about the humans theywork with while driving positive
business results.
And this is the Strong LeaderServe Podcast.
(01:21):
All right, so today we're divinginto something that I think a
lot of us are wrestling withright now.
How do you effectively lead in aremote or hybrid work
environment?
How do you balance compassionand results when you're not in
the same room and stress isrunning high?
I wanna start with a couple ofmy personal experiences.
(01:43):
I've worked on two verydifferent kinds of remote teams.
One was incredibly close knit.
We had a strong sense ofbelonging, shared values, and we
really knew each other.
If you listen to last week'sepisode with Henrik Pressman, we
were really good at forming thatcohesive team, although we
(02:04):
probably could have used alittle work in what he calls
going out.
For us.
Compassion came naturally.
We checked in on each other.
We celebrated small wins.
Even though we weren'tphysically together, the
emotional presence was strong,and that made it easy to stay
engaged and motivated.
But then I joined another team,also remote.
(02:25):
But this one felt different,just like Henrik and I talked
about last week.
The boundaries were muchfuzzier.
It wasn't really clear who myteam was.
Almost immediately, I foundmyself shifting into a more task
oriented mindset.
I focused on results.
I got things done, but my senseof engagement dropped.
(02:48):
I wasn't as invested.
I didn't feel as seen, and Inoticed how much harder it was
to bring my full self to thework.
That shift I experienced wasn'tjust a mood swing.
It is actually somethingneuroscience can explain.
See, when we lead and work, ourbrains toggle between two major
(03:08):
networks.
The Task Positive Network, whichI'll just call TPN and the
Default Mode network, or DMN,the TPN kicks in when we're
focused on execution, analyzing,solving problems, checking off
to-do lists.
It's what we rely on when we'rein productivity mode.
(03:29):
The DMN on the other hand isactivated.
When we're engaging in empathy,reflection, and long-term
thinking, it's the network thathelps us connect with people and
imagine what they might beexperiencing.
Here's the catch.
These two networks are kind oflike a seesaw.
They actually suppress eachother.
(03:50):
When one goes up, the other onegoes down.
And in remote environments,especially during the uncertain
times that we're going throughright now, and really that we've
been going through probablysince remote work had its
heyday.
During covid, most of us defaultto the TPN, the task Positive
(04:11):
Network.
Why?
Because results feel safe.
They're tangible, they'remeasurable.
We want to prove our value.
We want to stay visible, and insome cases we're just trying to
avoid being laid off.
I've heard this described asproductivity paranoia.
(04:32):
We have to show people thatwe're busy by the work that we
get done.
Now I know for me, this focus onresults not only changed how I
viewed the virtual meetings onmy calendar, it also changed how
I viewed the people in thosemeetings.
As much as I hate to admit it, Istarted to view the people as a
means to an end.
(04:54):
That end being the completion ofwhatever project I was working
on, the faster we could getthrough the agenda items, the
better.
So I had little patience fortaking time out to connect,
especially when the activitiesfelt forced.
Based on my conversations withclients, I don't think I'm
alone.
There are several forces pullingus towards viewing others as
(05:17):
cogs in a machine in the remotework environment.
It.
We already talked aboutproductivity, paranoia, and the
need to make your work visible,which in a remote work
environment is often limited tothe presentation of your
completed project as opposed topeople seeing you thinking about
and working on the project.
(05:37):
There's also the fact that inthe online world, the social
norms to talk about things otherthan the project aren't as
strong.
Without intention, virtualmeetings become very
transactional and we see theplayers in them either as a
means to an end OR as objectsthat are there to entertain us.
(05:57):
Since if you think about it andyou think about the other
screens in your life, thatreally is the case and most of
the time that we interact withscreens, we are just being
entertained.
So it makes sense that we wouldtransfer that to our
expectations of people inmeetings.
So it's really understandablethat we get into these states
(06:20):
and that we fall into the trapof having our virtual calls just
being very transactional, verymuch about getting the work
done.
But what happens when we stay inthat mode for too long?
What happens when our taskpositive network is always on?
We're always focused onproductivity, getting things
(06:41):
done, driving results.
Well, when we over rely onresults, the fact is we burn
out.
Our teams disconnect.
We miss opportunities forcreativity and collaboration.
We make short term decisionsthat hurt us long term and we
lose the human element thatmakes leadership feel
(07:03):
purposeful.
I know if you're listening tothis podcast, just by the nature
of the name of the podcast,strong Leaders Serve.
You probably got intoleadership, not just to get
things done, even if that isextremely important to you.
As it is to me, but you got intoleadership to make a positive
(07:25):
difference, both for theorganization and for the people
that you lead.
I've seen this firsthand, thisfocus on tasks driving people to
burnout.
I've coached leaders who in theabsence of hallway chats or
shared lunches.
Stopped reaching out to theirteams to check in.
They stopped asking how peoplewere doing and focused only on
(07:48):
what was getting done.
Their teams became quieter, lessinnovative, more transactional.
But here's the thing.
We've talked a lot and we willcontinue to talk about the dance
of leading with compassion whiledriving results.
So you probably know this truth,compassion isn't a nice to have.
(08:11):
It, in fact is a performancedriver.
When people feel safe.
Valued and connected.
They're more likely to takeinitiatives, support each other
and stick around.
I know this from my personalexperience, compassionate, in
fact, builds the foundation forthe very results we're chasing.
So how do we do this well?
(08:32):
How do we lead remotely in a waythat imbalance activates both
the task positive and defaultmode networks, so that we're
getting things done, but not atthe expense of connection.
Well, here are a few strategies.
First.
You probably have heard a lot ofremote work experts talk about
the importance of having atleast occasional in-person
(08:56):
meetings.
I've seen this work wonders forleaders that I work with.
If they can even just get acouple of hours together with
their team in person, that justaccelerates the connection
building in all their virtualcalls.
After that.
But even if that's not possible,here are some other things that
(09:19):
you can do or some strategiesyou can use in conjunction with
those occasional in-personmeetings.
First, take a look at how you'remeasuring success and see if you
might need to reframe it.
Yes, results matter, but so dohuman indicators.
When you care about the humanindicators like we just talked
about, you'll see that yourbusiness results in fact
(09:42):
improve.
So make space in your teamcheck-ins to talk about how
people are feeling.
Not just what they're producing.
Now, this is gonna vary forevery team about how you do
this, but it could really be assimple as a one word check-in.
Perhaps you have a question thateveryone feels comfortable
(10:02):
answering or you mix thosequestions up questions that help
you get to know just a littlebit about the other people on
your team.
Also, as we talk about in the Rin the care model that I
mentioned a few episodes ago,reinforce moments of
collaboration and support.
You're probably really good atcelebrating and reinforcing
(10:25):
deadlines that have been met.
And projects that have beencompleted, but also take time to
reinforce those results that arerelated to compassion.
Those times when your teamworked particularly well
together to help get to a goalor when someone jumped in to
help someone else on your team.
(10:47):
Second, create the structure forconnection.
Like I said, maybe you start allyour meetings with a 92nd human
check-in.
Now again, you're gonna have toplay with this with your team to
figure out what feels naturaland doesn't feel forced, but
actually helps people to connectas opposed to having them dread
(11:07):
some question that they feelisn't related to their work.
But the important thing is, isthat you create a structure
around it.
It's something that you doregularly.
You create a team habit ofsorts, and you use it for as
long as it's working.
Maybe after a while you need toshift that habit a bit and
(11:27):
create a different structure.
But the important thing is thatthere is a structure, even if
it's just like I said, a 92ndhabit that you go through at the
beginning of each meeting.
Next, don't confuse checking inwith checking up.
Build psychological safety bymaking it clear that your
one-on-ones aren't just aboutperformance.
(11:50):
You care about your teammembers' growth, and they are
about helping them to develop,finding out what support they
need from you and from others,and finding ways to connect with
your team member in a way thatgenerates belonging.
Finally, think about yourselfand use reflective leadership
(12:12):
prompts for yourself.
You might start your day byasking, what does my team need
more of today?
Should my focus really be ondriving results?
Or on driving a greater sense ofbelonging.
Maybe midway through your daywhile you're eating your lunch,
you take a quick pause toreflect, am I currently leading
(12:32):
with compassion or from a focuson results?
And how does that line up withwhat the team needs today?
And finally, at the end of theday, take time to celebrate.
Maybe even just by writing itdown, one result.
And one relationship moment thatyou're proud of that happened
(12:53):
that day.
It could be small, but knowingthat you have that focus at the
end of the day is going to keepyou aligned with your efforts of
leading with compassion anddriving results.
So remember, leadership andparticularly remote leadership,
is not about picking betweenresults and relationships in
(13:15):
remote environments.
It is so much harder to not justdefault to going toward task
completion.
But it's your job as a leader ina remote or hybrid work
environment to make theinvisible visible, to find a way
to both honor and celebrate notjust the results that people are
delivering, but the people whoare delivering those results.
(13:39):
It is about noticing when you'veslipped too far into
productivity mode and pullingyourself back into presence.
Because when we lead with bothdrive and compassion, our teams
don't just perform better.
They thrive.
Hey, have you struggled to driveboth connection and results in
(00:04):
your remote and hybrid teams?
You're not alone.
Today's episode is for you.
I'm Terry Schmidt, executive andleadership coach at Strong
Leaders Serve, where we supportleaders in holding the tension
of caring about the humans theywork with while driving positive
business results.
And this is the Strong LeaderServe Podcast.
(01:21):
All right, so today we're divinginto something that I think a
lot of us are wrestling withright now.
How do you effectively lead in aremote or hybrid work
environment?
How do you balance compassionand results when you're not in
the same room and stress isrunning high?
I wanna start with a couple ofmy personal experiences.
(01:43):
I've worked on two verydifferent kinds of remote teams.
One was incredibly close knit.
We had a strong sense ofbelonging, shared values, and we
really knew each other.
If you listen to last week'sepisode with Henrik Pressman, we
were really good at forming thatcohesive team, although we
(02:04):
probably could have used alittle work in what he calls
going out.
For us.
Compassion came naturally.
We checked in on each other.
We celebrated small wins.
Even though we weren'tphysically together, the
emotional presence was strong,and that made it easy to stay
engaged and motivated.
But then I joined another team,also remote.
(02:25):
But this one felt different,just like Henrik and I talked
about last week.
The boundaries were muchfuzzier.
It wasn't really clear who myteam was.
Almost immediately, I foundmyself shifting into a more task
oriented mindset.
I focused on results.
I got things done, but my senseof engagement dropped.
(02:48):
I wasn't as invested.
I didn't feel as seen, and Inoticed how much harder it was
to bring my full self to thework.
That shift I experienced wasn'tjust a mood swing.
It is actually somethingneuroscience can explain.
See, when we lead and work, ourbrains toggle between two major
(03:08):
networks.
The Task Positive Network, whichI'll just call TPN and the
Default Mode network, or DMN,the TPN kicks in when we're
focused on execution, analyzing,solving problems, checking off
to-do lists.
It's what we rely on when we'rein productivity mode.
(03:29):
The DMN on the other hand isactivated.
When we're engaging in empathy,reflection, and long-term
thinking, it's the network thathelps us connect with people and
imagine what they might beexperiencing.
Here's the catch.
These two networks are kind oflike a seesaw.
They actually suppress eachother.
(03:50):
When one goes up, the other onegoes down.
And in remote environments,especially during the uncertain
times that we're going throughright now, and really that we've
been going through probablysince remote work had its
heyday.
During covid, most of us defaultto the TPN, the task Positive
(04:11):
Network.
Why?
Because results feel safe.
They're tangible, they'remeasurable.
We want to prove our value.
We want to stay visible, and insome cases we're just trying to
avoid being laid off.
I've heard this described asproductivity paranoia.
(04:32):
We have to show people thatwe're busy by the work that we
get done.
Now I know for me, this focus onresults not only changed how I
viewed the virtual meetings onmy calendar, it also changed how
I viewed the people in thosemeetings.
As much as I hate to admit it, Istarted to view the people as a
means to an end.
(04:54):
That end being the completion ofwhatever project I was working
on, the faster we could getthrough the agenda items, the
better.
So I had little patience fortaking time out to connect,
especially when the activitiesfelt forced.
Based on my conversations withclients, I don't think I'm
alone.
There are several forces pullingus towards viewing others as
(05:17):
cogs in a machine in the remotework environment.
It.
We already talked aboutproductivity, paranoia, and the
need to make your work visible,which in a remote work
environment is often limited tothe presentation of your
completed project as opposed topeople seeing you thinking about
and working on the project.
(05:37):
There's also the fact that inthe online world, the social
norms to talk about things otherthan the project aren't as
strong.
Without intention, virtualmeetings become very
transactional and we see theplayers in them either as a
means to an end OR as objectsthat are there to entertain us.
(05:57):
Since if you think about it andyou think about the other
screens in your life, thatreally is the case and most of
the time that we interact withscreens, we are just being
entertained.
So it makes sense that we wouldtransfer that to our
expectations of people inmeetings.
So it's really understandablethat we get into these states
(06:20):
and that we fall into the trapof having our virtual calls just
being very transactional, verymuch about getting the work
done.
But what happens when we stay inthat mode for too long?
What happens when our taskpositive network is always on?
We're always focused onproductivity, getting things
(06:41):
done, driving results.
Well, when we over rely onresults, the fact is we burn
out.
Our teams disconnect.
We miss opportunities forcreativity and collaboration.
We make short term decisionsthat hurt us long term and we
lose the human element thatmakes leadership feel
(07:03):
purposeful.
I know if you're listening tothis podcast, just by the nature
of the name of the podcast,strong Leaders Serve.
You probably got intoleadership, not just to get
things done, even if that isextremely important to you.
As it is to me, but you got intoleadership to make a positive
(07:25):
difference, both for theorganization and for the people
that you lead.
I've seen this firsthand, thisfocus on tasks driving people to
burnout.
I've coached leaders who in theabsence of hallway chats or
shared lunches.
Stopped reaching out to theirteams to check in.
They stopped asking how peoplewere doing and focused only on
(07:48):
what was getting done.
Their teams became quieter, lessinnovative, more transactional.
But here's the thing.
We've talked a lot and we willcontinue to talk about the dance
of leading with compassion whiledriving results.
So you probably know this truth,compassion isn't a nice to have.
(08:11):
It, in fact is a performancedriver.
When people feel safe.
Valued and connected.
They're more likely to takeinitiatives, support each other
and stick around.
I know this from my personalexperience, compassionate, in
fact, builds the foundation forthe very results we're chasing.
So how do we do this well?
(08:32):
How do we lead remotely in a waythat imbalance activates both
the task positive and defaultmode networks, so that we're
getting things done, but not atthe expense of connection.
Well, here are a few strategies.
First.
You probably have heard a lot ofremote work experts talk about
the importance of having atleast occasional in-person
(08:56):
meetings.
I've seen this work wonders forleaders that I work with.
If they can even just get acouple of hours together with
their team in person, that justaccelerates the connection
building in all their virtualcalls.
After that.
But even if that's not possible,here are some other things that
(09:19):
you can do or some strategiesyou can use in conjunction with
those occasional in-personmeetings.
First, take a look at how you'remeasuring success and see if you
might need to reframe it.
Yes, results matter, but so dohuman indicators.
When you care about the humanindicators like we just talked
about, you'll see that yourbusiness results in fact
(09:42):
improve.
So make space in your teamcheck-ins to talk about how
people are feeling.
Not just what they're producing.
Now, this is gonna vary forevery team about how you do
this, but it could really be assimple as a one word check-in.
Perhaps you have a question thateveryone feels comfortable
(10:02):
answering or you mix thosequestions up questions that help
you get to know just a littlebit about the other people on
your team.
Also, as we talk about in the Rin the care model that I
mentioned a few episodes ago,reinforce moments of
collaboration and support.
You're probably really good atcelebrating and reinforcing
(10:25):
deadlines that have been met.
And projects that have beencompleted, but also take time to
reinforce those results that arerelated to compassion.
Those times when your teamworked particularly well
together to help get to a goalor when someone jumped in to
help someone else on your team.
(10:47):
Second, create the structure forconnection.
Like I said, maybe you start allyour meetings with a 92nd human
check-in.
Now again, you're gonna have toplay with this with your team to
figure out what feels naturaland doesn't feel forced, but
actually helps people to connectas opposed to having them dread
(11:07):
some question that they feelisn't related to their work.
But the important thing is, isthat you create a structure
around it.
It's something that you doregularly.
You create a team habit ofsorts, and you use it for as
long as it's working.
Maybe after a while you need toshift that habit a bit and
(11:27):
create a different structure.
But the important thing is thatthere is a structure, even if
it's just like I said, a 92ndhabit that you go through at the
beginning of each meeting.
Next, don't confuse checking inwith checking up.
Build psychological safety bymaking it clear that your
one-on-ones aren't just aboutperformance.
(11:50):
You care about your teammembers' growth, and they are
about helping them to develop,finding out what support they
need from you and from others,and finding ways to connect with
your team member in a way thatgenerates belonging.
Finally, think about yourselfand use reflective leadership
(12:12):
prompts for yourself.
You might start your day byasking, what does my team need
more of today?
Should my focus really be ondriving results?
Or on driving a greater sense ofbelonging.
Maybe midway through your daywhile you're eating your lunch,
you take a quick pause toreflect, am I currently leading
(12:32):
with compassion or from a focuson results?
And how does that line up withwhat the team needs today?
And finally, at the end of theday, take time to celebrate.
Maybe even just by writing itdown, one result.
And one relationship moment thatyou're proud of that happened
(12:53):
that day.
It could be small, but knowingthat you have that focus at the
end of the day is going to keepyou aligned with your efforts of
leading with compassion anddriving results.
So remember, leadership andparticularly remote leadership,
is not about picking betweenresults and relationships in
(13:15):
remote environments.
It is so much harder to not justdefault to going toward task
completion.
But it's your job as a leader ina remote or hybrid work
environment to make theinvisible visible, to find a way
to both honor and celebrate notjust the results that people are
delivering, but the people whoare delivering those results.
(13:39):
It is about noticing when you'veslipped too far into
productivity mode and pullingyourself back into presence.
Because when we lead with bothdrive and compassion, our teams
don't just perform better.
They thrive.
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