While much of the literature on social capital focuses on its utility – helping individuals “get by” or “get ahead” – this research asks a different question: What does it take for leaders to feel socially wealthy?

Drawing on qualitative and quantitative research with over 1,200 Canadian leaders, this session explores how remote and hybrid leaders experience social well-being, and how their efforts to activate, maintain, or even neglect their relationships shape their sense of social wealth – a concept rooted not in status or scale, but in emotional reciprocity, trust, and belonging.

We’ll explore the nuanced reality of distributed leadership: the evolving social needs of leaders, the subtle experience of loneliness, and the rituals and micro-behaviours that build meaningful personal and professional relationships. This session introduces the Social Wealth Continuum – a conceptual tool for understanding how leaders self-assess their relational wellbeing across different spheres of life — and how organizations can support relational infrastructure beyond “team bonding” or ad hoc social events.

Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of how social capital functions in hybrid environments, and how intentional relationship design can foster sustainable leadership, emotional resilience, and a greater sense of belonging in today’s flexible world of work.