Remote Leadership - A Qualitative Study About Leaders' Experience of Leading Remotely

The main objective of this research study is to investigate how today’s leaders experience remote leadership, thus the following research question is examined: How does a leader make sense of remote leadership? The concept of remote leadership is investigated from a leader perspective using a qualitative method, interviewing 11 remote leaders in the private sector. The following categories have emerged from the interviews: Remote leadership style, com- munication, relationship and geographic dispersion. Each category includes challenges and important aspects to consider when leading remotely. Subcategories have been established and are included within one of the four categories. The research question has resulted in find- ings that suggest the essence and elements of remote leadership. Findings indicates that in order to overcome the challenges created by working in a remote environment, remote leaders can focus on creating strong relationships by building trust, communicating regularly and clearly, as well as having a certain level of awareness. The findings also signify the challenge of not being able to create the same level of social closeness when connecting virtually, de- spite the development and improvement of digital means over the years. This study can be considered as a start of a continuous research on the experience of leading remotely. (Less)