This book does a great job of articulating the benefits of remote and hybrid working as well as identifying the multitude of challenges that it can bring. Melissa Romo proposes that empathetic leadership is the solution.

Part one of the book dives deep into the emotional pitfalls of remote and hybrid work, exploring the challenges of boredom, depression, guilt, paranoia, and loneliness. Part two explores what leaders can do about this and explores five leadership behaviours (checking in, communicating with optimism, building trust, setting boundaries, and managing performance) which are mapped (in a really neat way) to the emotional pitfalls.

This is an interesting book, a really good one at that, and it is very practical and implementation focused. There is a nice consistent rhythm and structure to the chapters, which makes it easy to read. There are several diagnostic tools included as well as ‘discussion starters’, a simple tool for starting the conversation and implementing each of the leadership behaviours. It is the kind of book that you can dip into and find a section about a challenge you’re experiencing, help you understand what might be the cause of those symptoms, and identify what to do about it. Finally, whilst the focus is remote teams, I think there is lots in there for all leaders.

Published by Practical Inspiration Publishing

Reviewed by Ian Pettigrew, Director – Kingfisher Coaching