In today’s distributed world, influence isn’t about where you sit; it’s about how clearly your purpose travels. 

Whether you’re leading a multinational team or a creative company like Misfit Improv with faculty and staff who are hybrid, your influence depends on two things: clarity of purpose and consistency of communication. It is about who you are and how you show up.

Research from Gallup shows that employee engagement is driven by purpose (Gallup). Purpose acts as a compass—especially when your team doesn’t share an office or even a time zone.

At Misfit Improv, our purpose is clear: to create space for play, connection, and creative risk-taking that makes people braver in their daily lives. That through-line connects our faculty and staff, who all work independently and asynchronously.

Even when we don’t see each other for weeks, everyone knows why we’re doing what we do. 

That shared purpose is the heartbeat that keeps motivation alive without needing constant oversight. It gives everyone permission to make choices aligned with our values—because the “why” is always visible. When I am able to keep that purpose front and center, my influence becomes bigger than myself. It becomes about changing people's lives.

When you lead from a distance, your words carry more weight. 

At Misfit, my goal is to make communication steady and transparent. That means consistent tone in internal updates, predictable follow-through, and listening to feedback and using it to make changes. When people can anticipate how you’ll show up, they feel steadier showing up themselves.

Influence isn’t built in big speeches—it’s built in how you email, how you update, how you listen. Each small, consistent signal becomes part of your leadership brand.

In distributed leadership, visibility doesn’t mean being online all day—it means being present with intention.

For me, that looks like celebrating people, acknowledging unseen work, and I consistently make myself available with a real open-door policy. If they want a meeting, I make it happen, ready to listen. Those moments reinforce that the relationship matters more than the transaction—and that’s where influence actually takes root.

Trust doesn’t require daily contact, but it does require reliability.

At Misfit, that means doing what I say I’ll do—responding when I promise, following up when I commit. When your team doesn’t see you often, every fulfilled promise reinforces authority. Over time, consistency becomes your loudest leadership voice.

Even across distance, relationships are the multiplier.

I’ve learned that when I make time to connect personally—to ask about someone’s creative goals, to listen when a teacher’s class hits a snag—it changes everything. People want to follow leaders who sees them. And when people feel seen, they perform with more heart, creativity, and ownership.

Influence, at its core, isn’t about control—it’s about credibility built through trust, care, and clarity.

When your team is distributed, your purpose is the glue, and your consistency is the bridge.

At Misfit, we don’t need to share a physical space to feel connected. Our shared mission—to make Asheville more joyful and courageous through improv—travels through every message, every planning meeting, every shared laugh.

That’s how influence grows: through steady presence, purposeful communication, and relationships built on trust rather than proximity.

How do you build relationships and influence when you rarely see your team face-to-face? What’s one communication habit that keeps your purpose visible across distance?