Our leadership team is fully distributed across three time zones, and while our weekly Level 10 Meetings keep us on track strategically, we are starting to lose the organic relationship-building and trust that happens in an office. How do we maintain deep, vulnerability-based trust and alignment in a fully remote environment?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Trust does not happen by accident in a physical office, and it certainly does not happen by accident in a remote environment. When team members only interact through structured screens, they fall into status management, presenting polished versions of themselves rather than their true, messy realities.

To build deep, vulnerability-based trust remotely, you must be highly intentional about creating opportunities for personal connection. Do not rely on virtual happy hours, which are often awkward and forced. Instead, integrate trust-building directly into your existing EOS rhythm.

In your weekly Level 10 Meetings, do not rush through the segue. Use this time to ask meaningful personal and professional bests. This simple discipline humanizes team members and provides a window into their lives outside of work.

Additionally, prioritize your quarterly offsite meetings. While your weekly work can be done virtually, your quarterly pulsing sessions must be done in person whenever possible. Spending two consecutive days in a room together solving your biggest issues, followed by casual dinners, is where real, durable trust is forged.

Use these in-person sessions to run trust exercises based on the Trust Equation. Have team members share their natural conative profiles from their Kolbe A Index. Discuss how your differing styles affect your communication. By combining highly structured virtual meetings with intense, high-impact in-person sessions, you can maintain a level of trust and alignment that rivals any co-located team.