This week I’ve been talking about leadership and culture with leaders of fast-growing companies.

It’s clear that leading well and building a strong, positive culture is tougher than ever.

Hybrid working and the dominance of electronic communication – video calls, text, e-mail, IMs – is the norm. This brings huge benefits to many but has also put barriers between leaders and their teams, preventing even the best leaders from making the connection they would have expected to pre-pandemic.

It's interesting that the leaders I spoke to weren’t complaining – they accept that hybrid working is here to stay – but are concerned about how this new reality changes an employee’s relationship with a business and those who lead them.

Imagine being a new employee with a hybrid role in an organisation where, on average, a third of the workforce are physically together at any one time and your team is required to be in the office every Tuesday. Now add in a manager who is far too quick to send an e-mail or message on Slack as a substitute to dropping by your desk.

How can you feel a part of a team, culture and community that you want to invest energy in, commit to and be proud of?

A few weeks ago, I wrote that, “Happenstance is a practice for individuals, a framework for teams, and a culture to keep refreshing for organisations.”

I still believe this, but this week has shown that Happenstance should also be a mantra used every day by leaders of all levels and experience.

Happenstance = creating the right circumstances for good things to happen

Put yourself in the shoes of our fictional new employee. That well-meaning e-mail or IM could be misconstrued to feel like micromanaging, a lack of trust or – perhaps worse of all – not caring.

As you lead your team what circumstances can you create that removes barriers to build consistent connection and ultimately community within your organisation?