How to Actually Manage a Hybrid Team When Half Your Strategy Is Not Working | Nate Challen

Nate Challen did not set out to become the person companies call when the future of work breaks down. It happened because he kept landing at the front edge of change before anyone else knew it was coming. He started at Ancestry.com building one of the first social platforms before social media existed. He led global teams out of Frankfurt with people in France, Germany, the UK, Singapore, and South America. He ran Canada for Sanofi as a general manager with barely 5 percent of his boss's attention and a full cross-functional team looking to him for every decision. And then COVID hit and the rest of the world caught up to what he had already been navigating for years. In this conversation, Nate and Katie get into the leadership questions most people are too comfortable to ask honestly. What actually makes hybrid work, and why most companies are doing it wrong. What happens when you get promoted over the peer sitting next to you. Why the best leaders ask about ambition before they start coaching. And what it means to find teammates instead of competitors everywhere you go, including business school. This is a conversation for the leader who wants to stay ahead of what is coming, and the manager who wants to stop losing people to policies that were never designed with them in mind. In this episode, you’ll discover: Why most hybrid work policies fail and what intentional workplace design actually looks like What to do in the first 90 days when you land in a new role, new city, and new culture all at once The ambition conversation most managers never have and why it costs them their best people How to navigate the shift from peer to boss without losing the relationships that matter Why the carrot beats the stick every time when it comes to getting people back in the office What leading a geographically fragmented global team teaches you about building culture on purpose The difference between being the boss and being a leader, and why they require different things from you How curiosity became Nate's most consistent leadership tool across seven states, two countries, and multiple industries We talk about: 00:00 - Two votes and a basketball team: the moment at Kenan-Flagler that made Nate realize he was a leader 05:00 - Seven states, two countries, and the formula he used to land well every single time 08:00 - Curiosity as a leadership tool: how to get familiar with a culture before you try to lead it 09:00 - The mid-career wall: why coaching someone toward your ambition instead of theirs is a waste of both of your time 15:00 - When did you first realize you were a boss: becoming GM in Canada at 5 percent of your boss's scope 19:00 - From peer to boss: the Sanofi global role where his former teammate suddenly reported to him 22:00 - The hybrid work conversation: why Nate had a head start on what everyone else panicked about 26:30 - Why intentional workplace design is the only thing that actually works in hybrid 28:00 - The Tuesday problem: everyone shows up on the same day, there are no seats, and the whole day is Zoom calls 32:00 - Lightning round: Myers Briggs INTP, Working Genius, 4,000 Weeks, and why being more efficient is the wrong goal 37:00 - The best advice he ever got and the boss who told him to stop trying to be something else 39:30 - The Rolaids failure: why ambition is a good thing and failure is only failure if leadership punishes it Resources: 4000 Weeks by Oliver Burkeman https://amzn.to/4aAGc09 Who Not How by Dan Sullivan https://amzn.to/4xf6b71 Connect with Nate LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natechallen/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nchallen/ Website: https://www.brandistry.info/ Connect with me Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/katie_armentrout YouTube:    / @katiearmentrout   LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiearmentrout Newsletter: http://www.peoplefluence.com/newsletter Website: http://www.peoplefluence.com #hybridwork #leadershipdevelopment #newmanager