Kurush Mistry – No man is an island, and energy industry expert Kurush Mistry applies that profound principle to the trading floor — a space where he believes collaboration sparks progress. As workplaces continue to transform in the wake of unprecedented global disruptions, understanding how teams connect and thrive has become more than a mere management strategy; it’s a critical competitive advantage.

Mistry is unequivocal about the importance of in-person interactions. “There’s definitely value to being in the office,” he emphasizes, challenging the emerging narrative of full-time remote work. This isn’t just nostalgia for traditional work environments, but a deeply considered perspective rooted in years of professional experience in the high-stakes world of trading and analysis.

The magic of workplace interaction, he argues, lies in its spontaneity. “I would be sitting, well, really standing, at my desk, and I’d hear someone say something three or four desks away, and I’d just catch that. And then I’d go over to them and start a conversation,” he recalls. These seemingly random exchanges are anything but trivial. In complex industries like financial trading, where information is currency, these organic interactions can lead to breakthrough insights that no scheduled Zoom meeting could replicate.

Imagine a trading floor where every conversation is a potential goldmine of information. A casual comment about market trends, overheard between colleagues, might trigger a chain of investigation that leads to a significant opportunity. In a virtual environment, such serendipitous moments are dramatically reduced, if not entirely eliminated.

Building Trust Across Physical and Virtual Boundaries

Trust, Kurush Mistry argues, is fundamentally a human experience that transcends digital interfaces. “If I was to work with another analyst or portfolio manager that I had not worked with in the past, I would want to be physically with them for a couple of months at least,” he explains. “So that we build that familiarity, we build the trust.”

This perspective challenges the emerging remote work paradigm. While technology connects us instantaneously across continents, it can’t replicate the subtle nuances of in-person communication. Body language, impromptu conversations, shared meals, and collaborative problem-solving create a depth of understanding that pixels and audio cannot capture.

The COVID-19 pandemic brutally exposed these limitations. “During COVID, one of the teams that I was working with changed quite significantly, and it was a struggle even for me,” Mistry candidly shares. If a seasoned professional with extensive global experience found remote collaboration challenging, imagine the difficulties faced by junior employees and new team members.

Kurush Mistry: Mentoring in a Transformed Landscape

The challenges of remote work are particularly acute for junior professionals seeking guidance and visibility. “For the junior people, I think that it is absolutely important to come in,” Mistry insists. His experience reveals that mentorship isn’t just about transferring technical skills, but about creating environments of mutual learning and respect.

“It needed a lot of extra effort,” he notes, reflecting on managing teams spread across different continents. Without physical proximity, building meaningful professional relationships requires intentional communication and commitment. Junior professionals lose the opportunity to observe senior colleagues, understand unspoken workplace dynamics, and learn through osmosis.

As companies experiment with work models, Mistry remains optimistic about finding balance. “Some companies, Amazon is trying to do a five-day work week now. So we’ll see how that goes,” he observes. The key, he believes, is flexibility and understanding team-specific needs.

“Hopefully, we arrive at a good mix and there’s enough flexibility within teams,” he suggests. This approach recognizes that no single model fits all organizations or departments. Some teams might thrive with more remote work, while others require significant in-person collaboration.

The Heart of Team Building

At the core of Kurush Mistry’s philosophy is a simple yet powerful principle: “We should be motivated to do it because we want our teams to grow and our organizations to do well.” This perspective reframes collaboration not as a nice-to-have, but as a strategic imperative.

“We can’t do that without physical interaction,” he stresses. While technology offers unprecedented connectivity, it cannot fully replicate the nuanced dynamics of in-person engagement. The subtle art of team building involves creating spaces — physical or virtual — where trust, creativity, and mutual respect can flourish.

In a fluid work environment, the lessons from professionals like Kurush Mistry become increasingly valuable. The future of work isn’t about choosing between physical and virtual — it’s about creating intelligent, adaptive environments that prioritize human connection, trust, and collective growth.

The most successful teams will be those who understand technology as a tool, not a replacement, for genuine human interaction. In an age increasingly mediated by screens, the most revolutionary act might just be walking over to a colleague’s desk and starting a conversation.