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Happy Easter, Happy 420 & Happy Game 1 Toronto Maple Leafs fans! 🙏🥳

When I was starting out in the corporate world, I was an intern at Salesforce, and we were required to be in the office at 8 a.m.

I have fond memories of meeting one of my best friends, Fabian, who later on became a solutions engineer who closed big deals with me while we were running across the diamonds at Fort York in order to get to the office at Bay Street right on time.

Not only was there that level of discipline, but there was a level of camaraderie and collaboration in the row. You could easily go up to somebody and ask them a question. You could do a quick strategy session, understand where their head was at, and learn from them.

Listening to everyone in the row fostered strong sense of vulnerability because you had to execute while people were watching you. You had to actually work.

Now we live in primarily a remote or hybrid environment, and as a leader it can definitely have its challenges.

How do you activate the best work? How do you build remote culture? Where do you lean in, where do you step out? How many touch points are too little/too much?

Below are three remote management principles I’ve been thinking about that are transferable across any team you are building/leading:

⏲️ Estimated read time 5:38 minutes.

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1. Drawing Out Motivation

In remote management, the number one thing you need to do is understand who you are managing and what their motivations are.

• For some, it is money so that they can buy a house.

• For others, it is time off so they have more flexibility.

• And for some, it is being able to identify with the workplace and be recognized for their contributions.

Because you can’t look someone in the physical eye too often, to keep compounding trust with that individual, lean in on their motivation.

Doing this well equates to speaking their language. Someone is 800% more likely to respond if you are speaking their language.

Since you really do not know what that individual is doing outside of the CRM dashboard, Slack, emails, and calls, understanding motivation is like a tangible currency that binds you, and enables you to keep moving forward.

Yet, motivation is fluid. Like the weather.

• Motivations change

• Life events happen

• People are unpredictable

Polaris Perspective: Seek to deeply learn your teams true personal and professional desires. Constantly re-affirm the motivations, use relative analogies and future facing language to keep the hunger alive. This will get them, and you, through the turbulent times while enabling you to double down and crush in the abundant ones.

2. Empowerment vs Micromanagement

How do you get someone to do something, to take ownership, while also making sure it is done?

There is a fine line when you cannot physically see that person. Especially at the pace of technology, cannabis, CPG , AI & Finance. Things need to get done.

The key that I am learning is to find this balance. To give opportunities to take on empowerment, take on leadership, and to put the tools and the resources in your team's hands to be able to make decisions autonomously.

What I’m finding is that the balance lies in empowerment through structure.

You give your team tools, resources, and reps. You give them frameworks that promote autonomy.

Then, you see what happens & act accordingly.

EXAMPLE WE USE:

As our team gets deeper into their market, they’re responsible for building a business case behind their decisions and spend.

This turns them into decision-makers, not just task-doers. It invites ownership.

But if the right behaviours aren’t happening, then yes, micromanagement becomes necessary.

If foundational parts of the job are slipping, you need to step in. Only when those fundamentals are solid can you lead through empowerment.

Ultimately, it’s not about being hands-off or hands-on. It’s about knowing when to coach, when to trust, and when to intervene. That’s the line remote leaders must walk.

Polaris Perspective: Autonomy, trust and empowerment are earned, yet also have to be balanced with a Fail Harder environment. As leaders, your judgement is everything and often comes down to time/previous behavior/complexity of task.

@corporatenatalie

Just say you don't like it then!! #coworkers #wfh #comedy #remotework

3. Time-Boxing Deliverables

“What gets measured gets managed”-Peter Drucker

The third shift I’ve had to make in managing remotely is this: move from perfection-driven deliverables to time-boxed execution.

In remote environments, things move fast.

There’s more autonomy and empowerment, but with that often comes hesitation. People want everything to be polished whether that’s the QBR, the pricing PDF, the internal deck, etc, because they’re afraid of putting out something “unfinished”.

But perfection is not the goal. Time is the real asset.

The longer something sits untouched, the more likely fear creeps in. So what’s helped us is creating a culture of failing harder and faster? Time-boxing work.

That might mean getting off a call and saying:

With tools like ChatGPT, speed is no longer a luxury, it’s a baseline expectation.

The goal is to produce something, share it, get feedback, refine it. The real blocker isn’t capability, it’s fear. So we try to remove that by encouraging the following mindset:

• You already have the job.

• You’re already elite.

• If you’re here, we’re going together.

Leaders need to ensure their teams know they can’t be afraid to fail. Once they realize the moment of discomfort, the moment of vulnerability, is actually the moment of growth… productivity and results accelerate.

Polaris Perspective: Make your team produce strategic work in bunches. Enable them to have a quick deliverable mindset that encourages results over Perfection. This will allow you to test/refine/tweak/empower accordingly.

Remote leadership isn’t about control, it’s about clarity, trust, and rhythm. When you understand what drives your team, give them the tools to lead, and reduce the fear around “perfect” outcomes, you unlock real performance.

Motivation must be revisited, empowerment must be earned, and deliverables must move forward even when things feel uncertain.

If you can create that kind of environment, you don’t just manage, you build momentum.

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Events you need to attend

Welcome to The CC Summer Retreat.

Don't miss the 3rd annual Collective Summer Retreat to kick-off summer.

Join leaders from around the state on an 80-acre farm near Woodstock for a day (or more) of hiking, yoga, product tastings, incredible food and time-spent with our NY cannabis community.  

This event is curated to help exec leaders rest, recharge & rejuvenate for a big back half of 2025!

 Thursday June 19th:

• Summer Retreat: 10am-7pm

• VIP Executive Dinner the night before (18th) in-town

• Kick-off to Mountain Jam private music event on Thursday night

• Mountain Jam Fri - Sun 20th-22nd w/ Cannabis activations

Come to the Catskills and stay for a few nights:

• Camping on-property (with showers available) 

• AutoCamp just minutes away

• Many hotels in the area, Cannabis Collective will be working to secure group rates, more info to come

🧘 Longevity

The Cognitive Advantage of Speaking Two Languages

A study published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring suggests that being bilingual may help protect against the effects of Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers at the University of Zurich found that bilingual individuals with Alzheimer’s had better memory and executive function compared to monolingual individuals with the same degree of brain degeneration.

The study examined 83 patients with Alzheimer’s in Colombia:

• 40 were lifelong bilinguals

• 43 were monolingual

Key findings:

• Both groups showed similar levels of brain degeneration based on imaging and biomarkers

• Bilingual participants scored higher on cognitive assessments, particularly in memory and executive function

• The researchers believe this benefit stems from increased “cognitive reserve,” the brain’s ability to adapt and compensate for damage

• Regularly switching between languages exercises complex cognitive functions, potentially strengthening neural networks

This study reinforces the idea that bilingualism is more than a communication skill. It may serve as a protective factor that helps delay the clinical symptoms of Alzheimer’s.

Media I’m consuming.

China Exposing Real Cost To Make $38,000 Hermés Birkin Handbags at China OEM Factory

Which products will be affected by tariffs?

How to improve Vitality and Heal from Disease. Podcast by Dr. Huberman

Have you enjoyed this newsletter? Is it providing value? Do you know somebody that would find it useful? Send them this newsletter and if you refer 5 people your next coffee run will be on me. (3 referrals = $15 Starbucks)

As the world becomes more complex, it becomes more and more challenging to stay grounded, focused, and aligned. Stay ahead by fostering unity, innovation, and trust across your teams and yourself. Don’t miss out on upcoming events and insights that will help shape your success in the months to come.

- SKV