Episode 71 | Fighting the Good Fight for Workplace Flexibility: Why Remote Work Can’t Go Away!

Episode Notes:

Dr. Laura welcomes guest Kaleem Clarkson, CEO of Blend Me, Inc., to the show to talk about the importance of remote work. Blend Me, Inc. is a consultancy that helps small businesses transform into remote or hybrid-remote workplaces. Kaleen is a passionate advocate for remote work and his conversation with Dr. Laura reveals why.

Kaleem reminds us that at the start of the pandemic much of the working world went remote in just a month. He points to that as being one of the best examples of business leaders’ ability to transform and be agile. But now, with a push to return to the office like before, he says leaders are falling into what he calls “leadership nostalgia”. Kaleem and Dr. Laura discuss how leaders are afraid of what the future holds and back away from remote-hybrid work because what they know is comforting. Kaleem explains how he became passionate about remote work, why office buildings are still vacant, and his desire for vacant buildings to become residential assets. The discussion sheds light on why we shouldn’t move backwards away from the remote work ground we’ve gained.

“… leaders love the way things used to be. That’s what they knew, and I’ve been trying to gain a lot more empathy. I think that’s one thing, humility, a little more humility. A little more empathy for some of these leaders because they don’t know any other way. You know, that’s how they moved up the ranks. They went to the golf course, they played golf. They were the chummy person in the office a lot of times, like that’s how they were able to get ahead and that’s all they know.”  Kaleem Clarkson

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