It’s been a month! We hit pause to reassess Same Team’s direction—and we’re feeling good about the shift. In this episode, we unpack why we made that move and what’s been on our minds: AI, project management, burnout, and how remote teams really communicate.

The Review

Inspired by Brett’s article, When Silence Isn’t a Red Flag: Leading Quiet Remote Teams, we unpack why quiet doesn’t always mean disengaged. Brett shares his own experience leading a remote team where silence was just part of the culture. We explore how to spot the difference between healthy quiet and emotional withdrawal, how your communication style shapes remote teams, and how leaders can create safety and connection, especially for quieter folks.

And don’t stop there—check out everything else we’ve published on Same Page this past month!

• Hybrid isn’t the problem. Performative leadership is.
• When AI replaces us, what’s left?
• From firefighters to forest rangers: rethinking how we prevent burnout on teams
• Everyone wants to quit. But what are we really running from?
• The myth of the unicorn employee is hurting real humans

The Ask

Buy our new 1:1 playbook and immediately improve your leadership!

https://sameteampartners.com/1-on-1-playbook/

The Hit List

Check out the full list on our website: https://sameteampartners.com/thehighfive/episode-47-leading-quiet-remote-teams

The High Five

This month’s high five goes to… us. For taking a step back, reading the room, and having the wisdom (and courage) to take a new path. Sometimes the best move is knowing when to make one.

It started with a text on a day off and turned into a whole conversation about burnout, boundaries, and why everyone seems one notification away from snapping. This week, Brett and Greg dig into the limits of "mental load," share a few real-world stress responses, and then turn their attention to a new workplace trend that's doing more harm than good: personal user manuals.

If your onboarding doc reads like a dating profile, we’ve got some thoughts.

The Huddle

The 1:1 Playbook is live! We finally launched the thing—and it's better than we imagined. It’s our most complete guide yet for making 1:1s less awkward and more impactful.

The Review

Greg’s latest opinion column, Enough with the personal user manuals, critiques the growing trend of workplace "user guides." Sure, they’re well-intentioned. But when they replace actual conversation, they can short-circuit trust, reinforce power dynamics, and turn human connection into a checklist.

This week, we unpack:

• What actually makes people feel seen and understood at work
• How trust gets built (and broken) in remote teams
• The hidden cost of replacing relationships with documentation
• What leaders can do instead

The Ask

Buy our new 1:1 playbook and immediately improve your leadership! Seriously—if you run 1:1s, this is the manual you wish you had.

Buy the 1:1 Playbook

The Hit List

What we’re reading, writing, watching, and listening to this week:

Listening: The Logical Song (cover by The Greystones) — A bunch of talented kids bring fresh magic to this Supertramp classic. Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves — Grammy gold, and the emotional balm we needed this week.

Watching: My Darling Clementine — Greg went full Criterion cowboy and he’s not wrong. A slow burn that hits. The Long Way Round — Ewan McGregor + motorcycles + aging adventure = Brett’s current comfort TV.

Reading: Abundance by Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson — Smart, hopeful, grounded. This one’s sneaky good.

Writing: Project management is a leadership role. Start acting like it.

The Deep Cut 003: Adventure on

The High Five

This week’s high five goes to: the sweet, sweet thrill of launching a digital product. We made a thing. We put a price on it. We hit publish. That’s worth celebrating.

This week, we’re talking about vulnerability at work—when it builds trust, and when it just gets awkward. From Foo Fighters to Figma to Greg’s latest Same Page column, we dig into reinvention, recognition, and the fine art of not oversharing.

The Huddle

Brett’s launching DPM Summer School

Greg’s geeking out in Figma and following the latest product drops from Config

The Review

When vulnerability backfires

We all want to work on teams where people can be real—but sometimes vulnerability lands wrong and creates distance instead of connection. This week, we unpack how to spot the line between honesty and oversharing, what leaders can do when the energy shifts, and why timing, tone, and trust make all the difference.

Also on Same Page this week:

• Celebrating small wins: how recognition builds resilient teams
• Building stronger teams through consistent recognitionThe Ask

The Ask

Are you in survival mode or living your best life? If you had to rate yourself from 1 (barely making it) to 10 (living the dream), where are you today? Write to us: highfive@sameteampartners.com — we’re listening.

The Hit List

What we’re reading, writing, watching, and listening to this week:

Listening:

• Foo Fighters (self-titled debut)

Writing:

• It's time we stopped asking for vases.
• Thinking about going out on your own? Read this first.
• Project management isn’t dead. AI just made it more human.

Watching:

• Sinners
• Warfare

Reading:

• Abundance by Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson

The High Five

The next playbook is in the works. Stay tuned for the drop!