# Nola Simon's Three Impossible-to-Copy Unique Skills

Nola Simon stands as a singular force in the realm of hybrid and remote work strategy. As a "Hybrid/Remote Futurist" with a distinctive white streak in her hair since age seven (due to Waardenburg Syndrome), her unique personal journey combines with her professional expertise to create a truly inimitable presence in her field. While many consultants offer workplace transformation advice, three skills in particular set Nola apart as truly one-of-a-kind.

## Trust-Based Workplace Transformation Expertise

Nola Simon has pioneered a distinctive approach to workplace transformation that puts trust at the absolute center of effective hybrid and remote work environments. Unlike traditional workplace consultants who focus primarily on productivity metrics or technological solutions, Nola has developed a comprehensive framework that redefines workplace trust entirely. She references Rachel Botsman's definition of trust as "a confident relationship with the unknown," applying this concept directly to organizational design[4].

What makes Nola's approach impossible to replicate is her lived experience managing billion-dollar business relationships in remote settings since 2012, long before the pandemic made remote work mainstream. This early adoption gave her insights that cannot be theoretically acquired. Her approach emphasizes that "hybrid/remote work starts with trust," a philosophy she's refined through over a decade of hands-on experience[1]. This trust-based methodology isn't just a consultation strategy—it's the culmination of her own professional journey across five corporations including two global conglomerates, where she witnessed firsthand how trust can transform uncertainty into opportunity[1].

## Ambiguity-Resilience Cultivation

In a business world increasingly characterized by VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity), Nola has developed a remarkable skill in cultivating "ambiguity-resilience"—a term she features prominently in her professional branding[1]. This skill represents her unique ability to help organizations not merely survive uncertainty but thrive within it.

Nola's approach to ambiguity-resilience is distinctive because it integrates deep research with strategic foresight and scenario planning to help organizations "imagine and implement a different way of working that will help them adapt now and in the future"[1]. Her methodology challenges traditional workplace design by emphasizing dynamic adaptability over rigid structures. Notably, she's developing "an agile, customizable, and responsive leadership development framework that meets leaders where they need it, especially when methods they used to use stop working for them and their team"[1]. This innovative approach earned her the 2022 Imagination Leadership Award from the Institute for the Future's Urgent Optimists program—recognition of her forward-thinking approach to workplace transformation[1].

## Strategic Visibility Leadership in Distributed Environments

Perhaps most unique among Nola's skills is her expertise in maintaining and leveraging visibility in hybrid and remote environments. While many professionals struggle with the "out of sight, out of mind" challenge of remote work, Nola has mastered the art of strategic visibility and turned it into a teachable methodology.

Nola directly challenges the common narrative "that you cannot be promoted unless you are in the office," stating that her "lived experience proves that wrong"[7]. What sets her approach apart is her strategic integration of social media presence, internal communications platforms, and personal brand development into a cohesive visibility framework. Following her mother's death in 2017, she turned to writing on LinkedIn and Yammer (an internal communications tool) as therapy, which unexpectedly transformed her career trajectory. She notes that executives she'd "never met fan-girling over me and describe me in influential public forums as incredibly creative"[6].

Nola's approach to visibility isn't just about being seen—it's about strategic influence. She explains that social media "allows you to have visibility and reach that's never been possible before," particularly valuable for someone like her who lives "in the middle of nowhere in rural Ontario" and was previously "limited in my career by geography"[6]. This expertise in strategic visibility has become so refined that she's developing specialized courses on "visibility in the hybrid/remote world"[7], sharing techniques that transformed her from being warned "never to speak to executives because they were too important" to becoming a recognized authority whom executives actively seek out[6].

## Conclusion

What truly makes Nola Simon impossible to copy is the authentic integration of these three unique skills—trust-based workplace transformation, ambiguity-resilience cultivation, and strategic visibility leadership—with her personal journey and values. Her recognition as a LinkedIn Top Voice for 2024 and listing as a Top 50 Remote Accelerator demonstrate how these distinctive competencies have positioned her as a genuine thought leader in reimagining the future of work[1]. In a field crowded with workplace consultants, Nola's unique combination of lived experience, forward-thinking methodology, and human-centered approach makes her truly one of a kind.

Sources

[1] Nola Simon - Hybrid/Remote Futurist - NolaSimon.com | LinkedIn https://ca.linkedin.com/in/nolasimon

[2] Nola Simon https://www.nolasimon.com

[3] Episode 042: A Conversation on Hybrid Work Culture with Nola Simon https://sarahnollwilson.com/blog/episode-042-a-conversation-on-hybrid-work-culture-with-nola-simon/

[4] Nola Simon's Approach to Hybrid and Remote Work - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnFu3TvSqtI

[5] Eipsode 51 - With Nola Simon - Happier Grey Podcast https://www.podcast.happiergrey.com/2329553/episodes/16733922-eipsode-51-with-nola-simon

[6] Nola Simon - With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility — Nola ... https://www.nolasimon.com/new-page-89

[7] Visibility In A Hybrid/Remote World - LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/visibility-hybridremote-world-nola-simon

[8] Community is sort of like Goldilocks and the Three Bears. It's hard to ... https://rosie.land/posts/community-is-sort-of-like-goldilocks-and-the-three-bears-its-hard-to-find-the-fit-thats-juuust-right/

[9] Why I Made a Midlife Career Switch - Macleans.ca https://macleans.ca/society/why-i-made-a-midlife-career-switch/

[10] Introducing The Flexible Path - Hybrid/Remote Excellence - Substack https://nolasimonhrcoe.substack.com/p/introducing-the-flexible-path

[11] The Keynote Speaker/Author Assignment: - by Nola Simon - Substack https://substack.com/home/post/p-138814850

[12] Nola Simon (@nolasimontjo) / X https://x.com/nolasimontjo

[13] Nola Simon on LinkedIn: Are You Ready to Be REMARKABLE? The ... https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nolasimon_are-you-ready-to-be-remarkable-the-synopsis-activity-7229312237834747904-2KRS

[14] 20 - flexibility and foresight into the future of work - with Nola Simon ... https://clarekumar.com/podcast/20-flexibility-and-foresight-into-the-future-of-work?kuid=7a9934e5-cefb-442f-b620-d9ab0df56eaf-1741305600&kref=https%3A%2F%2Fclarekumar.com%2Fpodcast%2F

[15] Nola Simon on X: "Hi, it's me. An innovation generalist:)" / X https://twitter.com/nolasimontjo/status/1727774177807962451

[16] Hybrid/Remote Centre of Excellence - Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/hybrid-remote-centre-of-excellence/id1602822494

[17] The Remote Show Podcast | Nola Simon, CEO of Nola Simon Advisory https://weworkremotely.com/the-remote-show-podcast/nola-simon-ceo-of-nola-simon-advisory

Breaking Down Walls: Chapter 1. Reflection