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Key Takeaways Early careers require proximity; observation and mentorship can’t be fully replicated remotely.
Remote work delivers its greatest value mid-career, when flexibility matters more than visibility.
The company I founded over two decades ago went fully remote in 2018, thinking we were ahead of the curve. We’ve maintained our “Great Place to Work in Canada” designation twice since then. Remote work has delivered real benefits, especially for team members with young families.
But I keep coming back to something. Work arrangements that make sense at one career stage don’t necessarily work at another. I see three distinct phases.
Stage one: Early career (Don’t do remote)
When my family ran our shop in the Congo, I learned business by watching. I saw how my parents’ demeanor shifted when customers walked in, how they handled complaints, the subtle art of reading people and situations.
At my first job after graduating, I was using a tool incorrectly. My boss saw what I was doing and stopped me. “No, no, no, you don’t do it that way. You’re going to break this.” That two-minute interaction saved me hours. This doesn’t work through a screen.
My kids can’t see any of that now. I’m behind a closed door on video calls all day. When we used to have an office, my nieces and nephews would come over and see us having meetings. They’d absorb how professional relationships work just by being around.
This observation-based learning is how business skills actually develop. You don’t just learn procedures — you absorb judgment, timing and the hundreds of micro-decisions that make someone effective in their role.
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