Online Leadership: Why Does Trust Matter More Than Control?

What happens to Leadership when office walls disappear – along with spontaneous kitchen conversations, immediate feedback, and mutual understanding at first glance? How do you lead a team when you’re separated by screens, time zones, and the uncertainty of a prompt reply? And is remote work a temporary compromise, the new normal, or a chance to build Leadership rooted in Trust rather than control?

In the Ninth Episode of the “Leadership Podcast” – a product of collaboration between the Center for Leadership of UCU and “Radio SKOVORODA” – Andrew Rozhdestvensky speaks plainly about complex things. About Zoom meetings that are worth recording. About self-discipline that matters more than KPIs. About leaders who support rather than micromanage. And about the habit of checking not who’s online in Slack – but how a person actually feels.

This episode isn’t just about working online. It’s about how, in times of uncertainty, loss of control, and forced distance, we can remain human. Remain leaders. And remain a team.

The Hybrid Format: Temporary Compromise or the New Normal?

Since COVID-19 – and especially after February 24, 2022 – remote work has stopped being an option for many Ukrainian organizations. It has become a survival strategy. But not everyone managed to adapt. Particularly those who built their management models around control rather than Trust.

Citing a 2015 study by Stanford professor Nicholas Bloom and colleagues, Andrew Rozhdestvensky illustrates that hybrid collaboration models can be just as effective as traditional ones. In fact, they often retain talent more successfully than five-day office attendance. Employees:

• maintain productivity;
• don’t experience stagnation in career growth;
• and – most notably – the resignation rate drops by a third.

These findings dismantle the myth: “You have to be in the office to work effectively”. And they lead us to a more powerful insight: Trust is the key “currency” of remote Leadership.

Challenges of Remote Teams: Loneliness, Procrastination, and the Refrigerator

But is the online environment ideal? According to the host, clearly not. Especially when a team is “thrown into remote mode” without preparation. The most common challenges include:

• Procrastination, especially for those with low self-discipline.
• Ineffective communication when tasks are vague, lack context or deadlines.
• Home-related distractions: children, background noise, chores, unstable Internet – or just constant thoughts about what’s in the fridge.
• A sense of isolation, even among highly professional teams.
• Lack of “incidental encounters”, which in offline settings often help fill informational gaps.

When there’s no “office buzz” – quick hallway chats or coffee-break talks – the team must intentionally structure communication and establish new routines: daily check-ins, weekly updates, or consistent messaging flows.

Online Leadership: How to Make It Work

Andrew Rozhdestvensky doesn’t only speak in theory – he shares how the Center for Leadership of UCU team actually operates. Here are some of the core practices worth adopting:

• Process synchronization – daily messaging or short Zoom stand-ups with prompts like: “What’s done?”, “What’s next?”, “Where do you need help?”.
• Weekly team updates – help build cohesion and ensure no one loses context.
• Shared planning boards (Notion, Trello, Jira) – for transparent tracking of tasks and priorities.
• Video calls with cameras on – as a non-negotiable norm to read emotional cues, detect fatigue or isolation, and offer timely support.
• AI-generated meeting summaries – a helpful boost to team memory and continuity.

And above all – a conscious rejection of micromanagement. In a world of asynchrony and unpredictability, control often does more harm than good. Instead of surveillance, leaders must create conditions for responsibility.

“[Once, a manager told me something I’ll never forget:] “I don’t care where you sit – even if it’s in your swim trunks on a beach. What matters to me is the result”. [And if that’s how you want to lead your team, then] what you need is clear structure, accountability – and trust”,

Executive director of the Center for Leadership of UCU shared with the audience.

A Culture of Support: When Video Calls Become a Space for Humanity

A leader who doesn’t see how their team is doing is, in a sense, “blind”. And in online settings, this “blindness” becomes literal: cameras off, no emotional cues, delayed responses hours later. That’s why our colleague insists: a video call must actually be a video call – not just a black screen with initials.

Because when someone shows up to their third meeting in a row with a blank stare, or on the verge of tears, it’s not about “low KPIs”. It’s a signal. And the leader’s task isn’t to reprimand them for an “unfinished task,” but to initiate a conversation, offer support, or suggest professional help.

“It’s not about diagnosis – we’re not doctors. But it’s about attentiveness. And about Leadership [as it should be – Humane]”,

emphasizes the researcher.

This is how a new culture of remote work is born: online empathy, monthly one-to-ones, Zoom coffee breaks, and meme-sharing chats. It may seem frivolous – until you realize that for some team members, this may be their only source of informal support.

Online Won’t Forgive Vagueness – But It Rewards Autonomy

One key idea is repeated throughout the episode: micromanagement doesn’t work in remote teams. You can’t “walk by” an open Excel sheet. You can’t casually glance at someone’s screen. You can’t control it.

So everything depends on:

• clearly defined goals;
• well-structured areas of responsibility;
• mature, autonomous people.

The leader’s focus must shift: from “where is everyone right now?” to “who owns what?”. This isn’t about reducing control – it’s about strengthening a culture of accountability, where each person has not only the freedom to act but also a clearly understood mission. Naturally, this brings us to a core challenge of remote interaction: self-discipline.

Drawing on the 2020 study by Bin Wang and Sharon K. Parker, Andrew Rozhdestvensky explains:

• People with high self-discipline are unlikely to procrastinate – even without frequent social support.
• People with low self-discipline depend on social contact to stay engaged and not “drop off”.

This changes how we approach recruitment: remote teams must include not only professionals, but emotionally mature, independent, and responsible people. Otherwise, managers will either need to constantly “pull them along” – or accept lower team performance.

That’s why it’s essential to supplement CVs and interviews with test tasks, real-case simulations, references – and ideally, some form of self-discipline assessment.

Well-Being Is No Longer a “Nice Bonus”

Among the most important shifts mentioned in the podcast is this: Companies are no longer measuring only productivity – they’re also measuring the state in which it’s achieved. Because what’s the use of hitting performance records – if the cost is burnout, depression, or quiet quitting?

“Performance metrics aren’t everything. We care about the state in which someone reaches those metrics – and whether they have the energy to start the next project”,

the scholar stresses.

That’s why the following practices are essential in online work:

• Monthly one-on-one meetings – focused not on tasks, but on personal well-being;
• A culture of support – through mentoring, coaching, and genuine human care;
• Regular “non-conference” touchpoints – Zoom coffees, online wine nights, Friday chats with no agenda – and ideally, the opportunity to meet in person now and then.

At the end of the episode, Andrew Rozhdestvenskyi brings listeners to what he calls “the cornerstone of any effective remote team” – Trust. Technology matters. Structure is essential. But no platform can replace the fundamental sense that: “I am trusted here. And I can trust others”.

“[Only] Trust is the primary instrument of remote Leadership. Control weakens – [it can be bypassed]. But Trust becomes the only true source of authority”,

our colleague concludes the Episode.

Mission-Driven Leadership Begins with an Inner “Yes”

Every episode of the “Leadership Podcast” ends with questions from the audience. This time, listener Yevheniia Yatsyshyn asked: “How can I know that my leadership is needed by someone?” It’s a deceptively simple question – one that touches on the deepest layer of Leadership: its Meaning.

Commenting on it, Andrew Rozhdestvensky outlines three levels of Leadership:

1. Leading oneself – self-disciplined, introspective, with a developed Character.
2. Leading others – showing responsibility, care, and example.
3. Leading leaders – shaping those who will, in turn, shape others.

It’s a chain that begins with a made bed – borrowing from the metaphor in Admiral William McRaven’s book, where a simple act becomes a marker of self-discipline. But it doesn’t end with household order. Because real Leadership is also faith in a mission, even when everything around you says: “You’re going to fail”.

And that’s when the author of the podcast shares a powerful story: a conversation with Bishop Venedykt in the early days of the Center for Leadership of UCU. The bishop told him about a young Jewish boy rescued during the Holocaust by Klymentii Sheptytskyi, raised in a monastery, nurtured with both bold ambition and humble service. Decades later, that boy – Adam Daniel Rotfeld – would become one of Poland’s most respected foreign ministers.

“When the monks cared for little Adam, they had no idea they were raising a future minister. But the energy poured into a person – with love and faith – will always bear fruit. Maybe not in your lifetime. But it will”,

following the bishop, the host reminds us all.

Final Thoughts

So what is remote work today? First and foremost – a challenge. But also, a powerful way to discover what your team is really made of. Are they mature enough? Can they keep the rhythm? Can they stay united, despite distance and uncertainty? If your honest answer is “Yes!” – then all the effort is worth it.Because like this episode itself, online work isn’t really about Zoom or Notion. It’s about Trust. It’s about Character. It’s about structured freedom – and authentic Leadership. It’s about what truly connects people – no matter which time zone they’re in.