Rapid advances in technology and digitalization have dramatically closed the boundaries that once separated us. We can join a conference or collaborate across time zones without leaving our homes; conversing with colleagues on the opposite side of the world has never been so easy – so why do we feel so disconnected?

Whilst we have never been so virtually close to each other, psychological boundaries stubbornly persist. In fact, we have become more divided and disconnected over the past years, and study after study attest to increased levels of social and political polarization. Many leaders and professionals feel ill-equipped to meet the challenges of the new world of work, as they struggle to motivate and engage an ever more diverse and distributed workforce.

Sebastian Reiche addresses these increasingly common concerns in Proximity, including:
· How do we connect with relevant colleagues over distance?
· How do we deal with disruptions to our ways of working?
· How should we design work to make it more collaborative, meaningful, and attractive to talent?
· How do we develop and roll out new work policies across a dispersed organization?

From recrafting our identities, reshaping our work aspirations, and reimagining the effective use of power, Sebastian Reiche explores how leaders and professionals can achieve proximity – that empowering sense of connection with their job and others – in an increasingly fragmented workforce. Proximity also guides leaders and professionals to more effectively bridge divides in distributed and remote teams, and it gives organizations the impetus to empower and align their workforce, redesign work, and connect people across radical change initiatives.