Happy Workers Are a Threat to Insecure Leaders

Written By Glenn Eggleton

he return-to-office mandates aren’t about collaboration.
They’re not about culture.
And they’re definitely not about happiness.

They’re about control.
They're about ego.
They’re about leadership that can’t stand the idea of people doing great work without being watched.

Because here’s the truth:
Happy workers are a threat to insecure leaders.

Remote Work Isn’t a Debate Anymore — It’s a Verdict

The research is done. The data is in. And remote work won.

  • 59% of remote-capable employees prefer hybrid, with fully remote workers showing the highest engagement and lowest burnout (Gallup, 2023).

  • Remote workers are 13% more productive, and experience 50% lower attrition (Stanford WFH Research).

  • They’re also 22% happier, and 50% would take a pay cut to keep that freedom (Owl Labs, 2023).

You don't mandate people back to a system that performs worse unless you’re driven by something else.

What’s Really Behind RTO

It’s not performance. It’s not productivity. It’s not team health.
It’s fear.

Fear that your presence doesn’t matter if people can do great work without you.
Fear that your authority is meaningless if it’s not enforced by proximity.
Fear that someone in a hoodie on a couch is outperforming you in a boardroom.

Insecure leadership needs to see people suffer like they did.
So they can justify the bullshit they endured to get where they are.

That’s not leadership. That’s trauma projection.

Culture Doesn’t Require Cubicles

Executives love to spin RTO as “bringing back the culture.”
Let’s be honest — that’s just corporate code for control.

Here’s the truth:

Culture isn’t a slide deck or a mission statement.
It’s the sum of your actions, your decisions, and how you treat your people.

And if your decisions say “We don’t trust you unless we can see you,”
Then your culture is surveillance — not community.

Real culture is built on:

  • Trust

  • Autonomy

  • Psychological safety

  • Shared values — not shared desks

If your company can’t maintain culture without forcing people into a building,
You didn’t have culture.
You had compliance.

Forcing RTO Is a Talent Drain

The talent market isn’t fooled.

They know RTO isn’t about collaboration.
It’s about power optics.
And they’re leaving because of it.

Great employees want to be trusted, not tracked.
And they will find companies that get it.

Final Thought

RTO isn’t strategic. It’s personal.
It’s fragile egos disguised as policy.
It’s a trust problem dressed up as a productivity concern.

Let’s be clear:

If your culture crumbles when people aren’t being watched,
you never had culture — you had control.

And if your best people are walking out the door, it’s not because of remote work.
It’s because they’re done tolerating leadership that confuses visibility with value.

Great teams don’t need to be micromanaged.
They need to be believed in.

So here’s the real question:

Are you building a company that trusts its people — or just one that tolerates them?

Because if your leadership model only works when everyone's afraid of being seen not working…

You’re not leading.
You’re just looming.

I don’t lead with titles. I lead with systems that work — and teams that stay.
You won’t find me in the boardroom giving culture slide decks.
I’m the one rebuilding the foundation while the execs argue about the wallpaper.

I’m a Principal Engineer in disguise.
And yeah, I can probably help you

Glenn Eggleton