For a long time we repeated the same idea: the virtual cools relationships.
It was a comfortable explanation.
The problem was never the screen.
It was like we decided to use it.
Amit Goldenberg's research confirms something many leaders intubate, but few assume: virtuality can reduce solitude and can create links, when the experience is designed to connect people, not just agendas.
The connection doesn't depend on the place.
It depends on the quality of the meeting.
A video call without intent is noise.
A video call with purpose, energy and participation can make someone feel seen, heard and part of something bigger.
Today we work in distributed, hybrid, global teams.
The question is no longer whether the virtual works.
The question is whether we can design human experiences in digital environments.
Because being connected isn't being close.
And being close is not being accompanied.
Working solitude is not fought by returning to the past; it is fought by raising the level of leadership in the present.
That day I understood something simple and deep: Virtuality does not kill human connection, it reveals it.
It forces us to lead better, to listen better and to create meetings that matter.
When there is intention, distance is no longer an excuse.
