Date

1-14-2026

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD)

Chair

Anna Key

Keywords

remote leadership, remote work, well-being, global leadership

Disciplines

Psychology

Abstract

Leaders of organizations have faced many changes with respect to remote work. As face-to-face interactions decrease, the opportunities and challenges of technological and digital advancement further the complexity of remote work. Leaders serve as prominent figures who use remote technology to communicate and interact with employees that report to them. The relationship between remote work and the development of meaningful social interactions remains largely unexplored (Clark et al., 2018). This phenomenological study explored the described experiences of remote leaders, the role that identity development plays in the success of leadership remote work, how their identity development impacts their well-being and ways that remote work can be improved. Ten team leaders selected from a multinational organization enrolled in the study. The interviews took place online, recorded (audio and video) through Zoom, and transcribed using the Zoom AI software. Data was analyzed, codes were established, and themes were identified. This study identified several key themes regarding the experiences of global remote leaders. The conclusion of this research was that successful remote leadership is grounded in both technological competence and the intentional fostering of social relationships. These findings suggest that organizations should provide targeted support for remote leaders, including training on cross-cultural interactions within distributed teams.

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