What if you had your very own Remote Leadership Playbook to navigate this world where in-person leadership is being retired?
Remote Leadership AcceleratoR
Join this personalized learning experience and level up your entire team. Be the best leader you can be, remote or hybrid.
Sign up is
open
The course takes
8 weeks
We'll help you create your
playbook
This is the Remote Leadership Accelerator, for those who want to lead with integrity
Between fully remote, hybrid, and the discussion around async, these may sound familiar:
You feel disconnected from your team.
If someone left tomorrow you, you wouldn’t have seen it coming.
You can’t shake the feeling that you aren’t doing enough – or not the right things.
You feel that there’s a lot going on behind closed doors, even if you can’t prove it.
You seem to be working all the time, and it’s becoming more and more unfulfilling.
While in theory you totally approve of the whole remote work idea, in practice it seems to be so much worse than simply showing up in an office.
Your team doesn’t need an office. They want to trust you, be able to count on you, and believe in you. They also need you to have their backs regardless of location.
Why does everyone seem to know what they are doing? You’d love to have some clear basics to come back to:
📖 Guidelines on how to work best
📖 Resources to engage your team
📖 Knowledge to work with your manager and peers
You’d love to have a general framework for yourself that helps you not only survive the remote day to day, but to actually enjoy your day to day remote work.
Your Host
Welcome! I am Ash Rhodes.
I have been a remote work evangelist since long before remote work was a necessity brought on by the pandemic . . . well over a decade now!
I have worked in everything from busy call centers to crypto startups that even the founders had difficulty explaining concisely what it was they did and everything in-between. I have lead teams of 1 other person and scaled them to hundreds, situated all over the world.
Along with Valentina Thörner, I helped to create this course to provide remote leaders and managers with the head start that they need in order to succeed where so many have stumbled.
I truly believe that remote work is the future, and it is up to us to shape it! Join us and let’s build it together.
Experiment, get feedback, implement, reflect, improve.
The goal of this program is to help remote managers grow, and we’ll support you with positive and productive feedback, as well as offer expert guidance from experienced remote leaders. Oh, and if your happy place isn’t completely asynchronous, we get that, too.
What others are saying
"After taking some courses on remote leadership, I have to highlight my admiration for [the] RLA. The course had a surprisingly practical side, which made sure that I had clear take-aways to implement the very next day. In my opinion, this accelerator is an absolute must for getting your remote leadership onto the next level."
David Sala Duperiel, Automattic
“I took this course to mitigate the impact of the ad-hoc work from home situation created by COVID-19, and my team and myself are benefiting alot from what I have learned. The program is engaging, very practical and with ready-to-apply advice on communication, the science of motivation, how to connect and the importance of making time and space for social interactions.
After having been part of the program, I definitely feel more comfortable in my role as a remote leader.”
Marilyn Huskic, Sales Reps Supervisor IAF Aftermarket EMENA at Donaldson
“Valentina pours out so much (10 years) experience into the course; the content was rich with insights and , the guest speakers and live sessions were empowering with tools, practical advise and community support to implement. I would highly recommend this course to any leader and especially course creators or course managers.
As a course creator or manager (especially for online courses), you will often take a leadership role and without the right tools and community to help you learn how to lead, your course will not be able to stand the test of time. Valentina is an amazing guide to understanding the remote leader’s role and journey.”
Lilian Warutere, Founder & Program Lead at RE-D LEARN
We blend learning with self-reflection so you can develop tools that work for you, and in your situation.
Most team leads and people managers we’ve worked with never considered how to adapt their own leadership style to empower themselves (and others).
Instead, they try popular (short-term) solutions seen on Social Media
Taking a couple of days of vacation (or even a week – gasp) for a “work detox” Organizing an escape room for the team Trying out one of the many “engagement tools”, like virtual games or video-call workshops
Or maybe you just put your head in the sand hoping that this too shall pass.
May I suggest doing something different? How about this:
Actively invest in what you already excel in. Harness your strengths, and acknowledge where you can do better. And then you chart a path from here to there, starting from a position of strength, not despair.
Without shared coffee breaks or impromptu conversations over the cookies someone left in the kitchen, you are left with awkward conversations on video calls and a feeling of disconnection with your colleagues. The temptation to skip them and the guilt of avoiding something that seems to be expected are in a constant battle.
In a remote world, leadership means being clear about
Your own expectations and realities Your teams expectation and realities Your bosses/coworkers expectations and realities
It’s the people. It’s how they show up (or don’t).
Create clarity in these three dimensions and you can focus on impact instead of guess work.
Take a breath, remember what YOU are good at and realign your actions where your impact is greatest.
Where do you feel stuck in your leadership journey? What can you influence in this setup? What’s the next best step to realign your own reality with your expectations (or vice versa)?
If you’re looking for a knowledgeable guide that you can ask for help when you feel stuck, someone who has been through this and has resources to share, someone who will listen and help you through the confusing times, Remote Leadership Accelerator is for you.
You already know what you are looking at? Take the shortcut and
A personalized remote journey
The Remote Leadership Accelerator is an 8-week long program designed to
✅ Help you understand your current remote leadership style.
✅ Discover how to re-engage your team and create a team culture that works for you.
✅ Communicate successfully to be taken seriously by peers and your own leader.
✅ Guide you through the creation of your own leadership playbook to get back on track when things get messy again (because they will).
The Path to Your Leadership Playbook
We work in 2 week cycles. The first week introduces a topic and presents your homework and reflection tasks. During the second week you meet up with your advisor to review your progress. We’ll use each theme to examine an area of your leadership skills and approach as we investigate it through recommended books and conversations.
These are the pillars of the program:
- Module 1: Leadership Skills
- Module 2: Team Engagement
- Module 3: Remote Communication
- Module 4: Bringing It All Together
Each module consists of 60-90 min learning material followed by a personal zoom call with your advisor to review your progress. This means, you’ll be starting to work on your on your playbook already in Week 1.
Once a month, we’ll bring all current and past students together for specific master classes from experts in the field.
Total number of course hours (HR may ask this): 14 hours.
6-8 hours of content and self, study, 4 hours of 1-1 discussions with your advisor, 1-2 master classes with external experts.
This covers the course hours until completion. You’ll continue to get invites to master classes for another 6 months.
We will provide a certificate of completion.
Sign up is
open
The course takes
8 weeks
We'll help you create your
playbook
Program Structure - What to Expect
The Remote Leadership Accelerator will cover
✏️ Four in-depths modules with learning material around remote leadership and its practical application.
✏️ Four 45-min individual sessions with a learning advisor (or coach).
✏️ Your guideline to create a personal leadership playbook.
✏️ Expert master classes.
When does it all happen?
You can start your leadership journey any time. Choose to work with Ash (US-based) or Valentina (EU-based) and select time slots that work for you.
The full program lasts 8 weeks.
Expert calls usually happen on Wednesdays. We try to make the time slots feasible for as many time zones as possible (based on current participants).
Module 1: Your Remote Skills
Before you start implementing changes in your own team, we need to understand the tools and capabilities you already have at your disposal.
In this first module of the Remote Leadership Accelerator, we’ll discuss the obvious and often overlooked differences between in-office and remote leadership, and what this means for your reality.
Starting off with basic leadership skills may sound, well, basic. However, it comes with a better understanding of the environment you’re operating in – and you may be surprised by what you learn.
Module 2: Team Engagement
Every leader has a team, or at least people they’d like to influence. Team engagement encapsulates the idea of interaction between the leader and individual members, as well as between team members.
This second module of the Remote Leadership Accelerator is all about understanding how to engage your team when bringing snacks to a meeting is not an option.
Module 3: Remote Communication
In remote environments, if you don’t communicate strategically, your colleagues may simply forget you exist – or get a completely inaccurate idea of what you do.
This third module of the Remote Leadership Accelerator looks at the art of remote communication, and how to use it to effectively manage relationships with your peers and your boss.
Module 4: Your Playbook
With a clearer understanding of who you are, how to work with your team, and what and how to communicate, it’s time to circle back to the playbook and decide how to use it for your work.
This fourth and final module of the Remote Leadership Accelerator looks into types of playbooks, how to use them – and what to avoid when it comes to putting your own needs and wants out there.
Past Guest Teachers
Sometimes it can be helpful to have someone external share how they figured out a certain solution or managed similar situations. That’s why I’ve invited guest teachers – experts in the monthly themes, and inspiring minds thinking about remote leadership, company culture, personal growth, community and more – to join us and share their insights for this group only. Sometimes they’ll do a masterclass, sometimes you’ll get to know them in a life interview or a panel discussion.
Here’s a short presentation of some of the teachers we invited for past accelerator iterations.
Katerina
Bohle Carbonell
Katerina uses a combination of data analysis and behavioral science she has helped small and medium teams in various industries adopt sustainable collaboration patterns. She recently became a learning facilitator for teenagers at the School of Humanity.
Rowena
Hennigan
Rowena Hennigan is globally recognised Remote Work Expert. She specializes in Remote Skills Competencies and how self-leadership can support effective remote working and an individuals personal and professional development.
Aviva
Pinchas
Aviva has spent her career shaping the systems that let marketing and product teams shine. She’s been working remotely for more than 7 years. She currently leads the growth team at Parabol, a fully-distributed startup helping agile teams make the most of their meetings.
Raul
Anton Cuadrado
Raúl is a Talent Data Scientist and a Remote Communication and Leadership Practitioner. He uses data and predictive models to help improving hiring and onboarding experiences and build strong leadership for remote and distributed teams.
Erin
Casali
Erin has been helping organizations grow due to extensive expertise in change management, social dynamics, transparent collaboration, and an attention for lightweight process improvement to unify people under the same vision.
Anna
Danés
Anna is an expert in Managing Remote Teams. She helps create clear strategies for remote teams, including processes, how to hire remotely, team activities and provide trainings about how to work from home in a healthy way.
Ash’s experience building and leading CX teams at GoDaddy, Automattic, ReCharge Payments, vidIQ, and Vizion API gives him the insights needed as a consultant helping startup companies “go and stay remote” in a positive, employee- and customer-centric manner.
Valentina
Thörner
Valentina has been helping remote leaders and remote teams to combine result-based productivity and minimalism for over a decade. Her pragmatic and experiment-embracing style works best in environments where change is accepting as part of normalcy.
Meet your Host: Ash Rhodes
Hiya! My name is Ash.
Just like Valentina, I discovered remote work well over a decade ago and have never gone back. I have worked directly for established companies and startups and have also created my own consulting business, guiding leaders on how to create empathetic teams with great culture even when you aren’t necessarily face-to-face.
As such, it’s probably unsurprising that my approach tends to be more casual and free-flowing, with a lot of give and take on either side. I’m an empathetic person though there is rarely (never?) a conversation wherein I don’t swear at least a little . . . my first two jobs were as a construction worker and then a bouncer, so it’s built in!
If you think your experience with the RLA would be improved with some additional mentoring, I’m located in the Pacific timezone of the U.S. and tend to be “the people person”. I can help with anything related to dealing with other folks in your organization or finding better ways to collaborate for positive change.
If you decide to supplement your learnings with hands-on mentoring – I’ve got you covered.
Meet your Co-Host: Valentina Thörner
My remote experience includes small ad agencies and startups, including Yahoo and Automattic (the makers of WordPress.com), and I’m currently leading the Product Division at Klaus (a SaaS platform for quality in support). I’ve written, talked about, shared, coached, mentored, and inspired others to thrive at work without an office. I firmly believe that better remote leaders are the lever to create better remote workplaces. And I want you to be one of these changemakers.
My worldview and experiences are heavily influenced by growing up as the eldest of six kids, three of whom were foster children. I spent a year in Ecuador at age sixteen, kickstarting my fascination with communication and culture. After that, I went all-in with a double undergraduate degree in Intercultural Communication and Political Science, partially in Brazil, and a Master’s Degree in Border Region Studies, which brought me to Barcelona to analyze the impact of innovation policies at the Catalan/French border.
From all my studies and travels, I realized that everything boils down to the same principle: communication and expectation management are key factors for getting things done. Circumstances improve when people collaborate, and ideas thrive when this collaboration happens openly and with a shared narrative. Creating change depends on people wanting to make the change. Today, I’m using these same principles in my startup work and when working with leaders, helping others discover how and when to start making real changes.
Remote leadership isn’t always in-your-face and visible. It’s flexible and it adapts. This course will help you figure out how to do the same.
Join the Remote Leadership Accelerator!
You can start anytime - embarking on a bespoke 8-week journey
Full 8-week learning program, including four individual sessions with your remote leadership advisor / coach.
– EUR 1,900 (purchase available in USD, approximately $2,050)
Remote leadership blueprint for your to personalize (Google Docs or Notion template) Four intense modules (of 2 weeks each) starting at your convenience. Fortnightly 1-1 sessions in your time to discuss your progress with an expert. Access to our monthly expert calls, either through live virtual attendance or watching the recording – for the next six months. Clear guidance on how to go at your own pace. (Optional) Access to a dedicated Slack channel for your questions in between – as you have thoughts or questions you can message your selected mentor via Slack at any time during the program so you don’t have to wait until your next session.
At the end of this program, you will have your own Remote Leadership Playbook to take with you into your next challenge.
Remote Leadership Accelerator Light
Monthly group expert calls only
If you are interested in this option, please get in touch at valentina @ remotethat . works
Program Structure - summary
Life sessions and interactions
You can start your leadership journey any time. Choose to work with Valentina (EU-based) or Ash (US-based) and select time slots that work for you.
The full program lasts 8 weeks.
Expert calls usually happen on Wednesdays. We try to make the time slots feasible for as many time zones as possible (based on current participants).
Dates and times
Each module consists of 60-90 min learning material followed by a personal zoom call with your advisor to review your progress. This means, you’ll be starting to work on your on your playbook already in Week 1.
Once a months, we’ll bring all current and past students together for specific master classes from experts in the field.
Total number of course hours (HR may ask this): 14 hours.
6-8 hours of content and self, study, 4 hours of 1-1 discussions with your advisor, 1-2 master classes with external experts.
This covers the course hours until completion. You’ll continue to get invites to master classes for another 6 months.
We will provide a certificate of completion.
More questions?
Send an email to valentina @ remotethat.works and I’ll do my best to answer your questions!