How to Lead From Anywhere with David Burkus

How can leaders improve communication and trust with their employees when working remotely? David Burkus has dedicated his career pre- and mid-COVID-19 pandemic to finding out.

Burkus, a widely recognized keynote speaker, thought leader and bestselling author, promotes forward-thinking ideas on how companies can take a modern approach to innovation, collaboration and productivity. His insight has been featured in national publications like The Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review.

On this week’s episode of the Start With a Win podcast, Burkus joins RE/MAX Holdings CEO Adam Contos to share his predictions for the future of remote work, as well as his tips for leaders and managers to engage and genuinely connect with their employees – even behind a screen.

“When you look at remote work specifically, it was sort of always a two steps forward, one step back relationship between [office] work and remote work,” Burkus says. “You would see a company announce it, and then you would see a different [company] scale back.”

Long before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, he was already exploring the difference between fads and long-term solutions for the future of the workplace. In March 2020, Burkus witnessed companies across a variety of industries go fully remote or adapt a hybrid office schedule.

Now, some workforces are choosing to never return to their previous corporate office spaces altogether.

Burkus predicts that in the coming months and years, companies will see employees requesting a maximum of two to three days per week in office. To accommodate that cadence, effective leaders will need to find ways to connect with their employees, provide adequate support and promote company culture all while remote.

“This is where culture really comes into play. I think the thing that’s been vividly apparently over the last 18 months has been that if you’re not intentional about your culture, it breaks apart,” Burkus says.

He advises leaders and companies alike to make their corporate culture intentional, not accidental. To do so, Burkus believes setting core values, fundamental elements and guidelines for communication will provide a sense of unity even from a distance.

“Fundamentally, remote and hybrid teams that have strong company cultures are marked by really three things… A shared sense of understanding, shared identity and psychological safety,” he says.

To learn more from Burkus on being a conscious leader – and to hear why understanding employee sentiment is essential for retention – tune in to this week’s podcast episode.

Get RE/MAX News delivered to your inbox! Sign up for News Alerts in the footer below.