Communication alone doesn’t build a connected team. A well-timed email or a passed-along directive keeps information moving, but it rarely leaves anyone feeling seen. Building that kind of trust takes something more deliberate.
Joining us on this episode of Business Trends Today is Amy Summers, Speaker, Entrepreneur, and Author of Lift: 10 Mentorship Touchpoints to Empower Your Team and Accelerate Your Career. Summers returns to ASBN’s Mentorship Moments for Business Leaders series to discuss Touchpoint Five: Create Connection.
Why connection is worth a leader’s time
Connection has to be intentional, and leaders who make time for it see the payoff in loyalty and output, not just goodwill, Summers says.
According to Summers, employees who feel invested in tend to work harder. That return doesn’t come from a heavier email load. It comes from leaders who take the time to know their people, including their families and where they come from.
"When you get to know the people that you're working for and they feel like they're being invested in, there's a return on investment for that."
Many leaders have grown cautious about getting too personal at work, worried that a compliment or a question about someone’s family could be misread. Summers said that caution has pushed some leaders toward total detachment, which reads as cold rather than careful.
Summers states that physical touch isn’t an option, but there are many other ways to connect. Making eye contact during a meeting, having a phone call instead of sending a lengthy, directive email, or asking someone how their day is going all serve as authentic forms of connection.
The difference between communicating and truly connecting
She also explains that communication transmits information while connection fosters relationships. She cited her fully remote company as an example, noting that team members she met in person—either at the office or during trips—formed stronger, more enduring bonds with her than those she only interacted with via phone or video. This difference isn’t about care levels but simply about shared experiences.
Consistency matters just as much. Leaders who connect well with some employees but not others risk resentment among the ones left out, so the effort has to reach the whole team evenly.
Creating camaraderie across hybrid and remote teams
Hybrid and remote work means leaders can no longer count on connection happening naturally.
"Because of this remote and hybrid environment that we're in now, we really cannot leave connection to chance."
Summers described a recent example from her internship program. She brought several interns to New York for an immersive day that included a visit to CBS studios and a group lunch. One intern based in Tampa could not attend in person, so Summers brought her in by video for part of the day and gave her a parallel assignment to complete on her own.
Summers said bringing a remote employee in deliberately, rather than letting them sit on the sidelines, tends to give them more attention in the room, not less. Leaders who remember to include remote team members intentionally can turn a scheduling gap into a stronger connection.
Connecting employees to the bigger mission
People want work that feels fulfilling, but that doesn’t require finding a company that matches every personal value, Summers said. Humans are wired to connect with the people around them, regardless of the job.
Cutting off that connection, whether through limited eye contact or a lack of casual conversation, feels disconcerting to most employees, she said. The relationships built through everyday work tend to serve people well beyond any single job.
Listening as the starting point for connection
Listening gives leaders context they can’t get any other way, Summers said. Understanding where an employee grew up or what shaped them helps a leader place that person on the right project.
Summers gave an example from her own team: an employee who grew up in a small town turned out to be a natural fit to lead a client’s grassroots marketing campaign, a connection Summers only made because she had taken the time to ask.
That same approach shaped how she once assigned a team lead role. An employee who had served as a cheer captain in college became the person Summers turned to whenever a project needed someone to rally the group.
For Summers, the throughline across every example is the same. Connection isn’t a byproduct of a friendly workplace. It’s a decision leaders make, one conversation and one deliberate choice at a time, and the teams that feel it tend to stay.
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