Navigate Change: Lead Marco Polo Teams with Clarity in Uncertainty
Mar 16, 2025
"I don't know how to lead anymore," James confessed during his coaching session.
He had successfully led teams for fifteen years as CTO of a growing tech company. Now, with half his staff working remotely and the other half hybrid, he felt lost.
"When everything keeps changing, how do you keep people focused and moving forward?" he wondered aloud.
Does James's question resonate with you? The challenge isn't just managing Marco Polo teams; it's about leading through constant evolution while maintaining clarity and purpose.
The N in the C.O.N.N.E.C.T. framework for creating a positive culture in distributed teams is for Navigate Change: Lead Marco Teams with Clarity in Uncertainty.
Dr. Bob Johansen, a futurist whom I deeply admire, shared something profound with me in one of our Work Positive Podcast conversations: "In a highly uncertain time like this, you want to be very clear about direction, but very flexible about execution."
Think of your leadership of Marco Polo teams as if you're sailing a ship across the ocean. The destination is fixed. However, the route constantly adjusts based on weather, currents, and other conditions. You control the destination direction. You remain flexible about how you reach it based on circumstances.
Today's leaders face this challenge. The mission stays constant, but methods must adapt to changing circumstances. Leadership best focuses on navigation clarity in the midst of traveling uncertainties.
Holly Grogan, Chief People Officer at Appspace, navigates teams across multiple continents and finds that time zones are a greater uncertainty than cultural differences. "We're all human," she told me in our Work Positive Podcast conversation. "There's some nuance to culture, but fundamentally, we all can be happy, we all can be sad, we all have just the basic human feelings."
The key, for Holly, is to avoid the temptation to control every aspect of how work happens. Instead, she focuses on creating clear direction while Marco Polo teams experience flexibility in execution. They develop systems for asynchronous work, regional town halls, and regular feedback loops. Most importantly, they maintain unwavering clarity about their purpose and direction.
This balance between clarity and flexibility is essential for Marco Polo teams. Marco requires crystal-clear direction to stay aligned with Team Polo without physical proximity for guidance. Navigating Marco Polo teams further requires autonomy to execute in ways that work for their unique conditions.
Consider Marjorie Hook's experience at Openly. She realized traditional change management approaches wouldn't work for her Marco Polo teams. She relinquishes control and navigates for clarity in direction with what she calls "listening posts"—regular surveys, pulse checks, and informal conversations that help leaders understand how circumstances change in real-time.
"We really have to listen," Marjorie emphasized in our Work Positive Podcast, "and understand and appreciate the nuances across our employee base." This approach allows them to maintain clear direction while adapting their methods based on accurate feedback gathered through active listening.
Leaders like Marjorie learn to navigate in the waters of what Dr. Bob Johansen calls the "V.U.C.A. world":
- Volatile
- Uncertain
- Complex, and
- Ambiguous
Dr. Bob explained in our Work Positive Podcast conversation that military leaders developed this concept to describe modern battlefield conditions. But it applies perfectly to today's Marco Polo work environment.
"The best militaries around the world have the concept they call commander's intent or mission command," Bob shared. "They're very clear about direction but very flexible about execution." This approach proves invaluable in the V.U.C.A. world of Marco Polo teams where leaders can't directly oversee every action.
The key to unlocking the door to navigate change with clarity for Marco teams despite uncertainty is "flexible focus"—lead with unwavering clarity about destination while remaining adaptable about the work journey. This approach requires leaders to shift from:
- control to empower
- direct to coach, and
- time to results
James, the CTO I mentioned earlier, discovered this truth. He stopped trying to control how his Marco Polo team worked and focused on their understanding where and why. He established clear communication channels, regular check-ins, and explicit success metrics. Most importantly, he gave his team autonomy to figure out how to achieve their goals.
The results surprised him. Productivity increased 33%. Innovation went up 43%. Marco and the Polo Team found creative solutions James had yet to imagine as he provided clarity about direction and autonomy in execution.
Ask yourself these questions as you navigate change with your Marco Polo team:
- "What am I controlling about the team's 'how' as they work?"
- "How well do I clarify the team's destination?"
- "What's my first step to shift my role to removing obstacles and ensuring alignment?"
Marco Polo teams require leadership navigation that clarifies instead of controls and facilitates autonomy instead of forces authority.
Taken from Dr. Joey's upcoming book, Marco Polo Culture: C.O.N.N.E.C.T. with Distributed Teams.
What's your question about creating a positive work culture with distributed teams? Ask Dr. Joey here.
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