Leading in a hybrid environment comes with unique challenges. How do you maintain engagement, accountability, and trust when your team isn’t always in the same room?
Leaders can default to checking in more, controlling more, and directing more—but this often backfires. Employees feel micromanaged or disengaged. Hybrid work requires a shift in leadership style: less telling, more asking.
The pitfalls of ‘Command and Control’ in hybrid work
When leaders rely on top-down direction, hybrid teams often experience:
❌ Less ownership—employees wait for instructions instead of taking initiative.
❌ More misalignment—assumptions replace clarity, leading to frustration.
❌ Lower engagement—without connection and trust, team members mentally check out.
The power of Leaders Who Ask
Great hybrid leaders replace instruction with inquiry, drawing on open questions and not directions. They create clarity without micromanaging and foster ownership without over-controlling.
✔️ Instead of ‘Here’s what you should do,’ ask: ‘What have you seen work in the past in situations like this?’
✔️ Instead of ‘Let’s meet again on this,’ ask: ‘What’s the best way for us to stay aligned?’
✔️ Instead of ‘I will do xyz for you,’ ask: ‘How would you like me to support you?’
✔️ In your next hybrid meeting, instead of summarising a project, ask ‘What’s the biggest challenge you’re facing?’ Then listen.
The best leaders in hybrid settings aren’t watching their teams more—they’re trusting, asking, and empowering. Leaders Who Ask know that powerful questions drive connection and ownership—regardless of location.
What’s one question you could ask your team today that would shift your hybrid conversations from transactional to transformative?
Go Fearlessly – Corrinne
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