Kudos to the other commenters as well for such a lively interaction on this important topic.

This means that leadership also comes with great compromises. The 2 hour plus commute into the city, each direction, dictates that although many of your employees work to live, you will not.

I anticipate that these trends will only lead to greater burnout and even diminished productivity in the long term.

But I greatly admire your attention to the issue. You have chosen to recognize and resolve it with a determination that too many other business leaders fail to grasp. I have worked in situations that differ vastly in this regard: from casual hangouts at the beer keg that complement formal meetings, to managers checking in with their staff less than once a year.

‘The road the top is paved with being there.’

The term ‘being there’ is critical. To be there is to be *present* and, as much as physical co-location is important, it is quite possible to be physically in a room with someone and yet totally absent from their needs and even their existence. I think nothing de-motivates employees more than the sense that a manager doesn’t care or ‘clue in’.

Your presence to the need for great communication with your employees forms, I think, a solid foundation for the ‘road to the top’. Without that you’d just have pot holes.