Starcast Join the waitlist
HBR On Leadership

HBR On Leadership

When Leading a Global Team, Don’t Leave Connection to Chance

Jan 21, 2026 · 19m

Coming soon to iPhone. Already have it? “Listen in Starcast” takes you straight there.

On this episode

About this episode

Leading a team that spans countries and time zones brings communication challenges that go far beyond working remotely. Tsedal Neeley, a professor at Harvard Business School, explains why global teams are especially vulnerable to misunderstandings and why leaders often don’t realize there’s a problem until collaboration starts to suffer. Neeley shares advice on how leaders can reduce those misunderstandings by being intentional about how people communicate and connect.