Time Zones and Trust Zones: Building Cohesion Across Geographies

In global health, pharma, and life sciences, many leaders now manage teams dispersed across continents. The sun may set in Singapore just as people in Europe log on again, or the US team is preparing for evening while others are starting their day.

The central leadership challenge becomes this: How do you build cohesion and trust when your team is spread across time zones — and sometimes never, or rarely, meets in person?

Drawing on The Lioness Effect — where presence, purpose, and integrity matter more than proximity — I have been exploring real-world examples from pharma and life sciences companies. There are some good examples of efforts in how this trust can be built, even across borders and hours.

What the Lioness Teaches Us: Presence Without Proximity

A lioness needn’t be physically near every member of her pride to inspire loyalty. Her influence is felt through her consistent leadership, protection, and shared purpose.

Similarly, leaders of global teams must anchor their presence in values that resonate everywhere: fairness, clarity, empathy, and respect — so that no one ever feels “out of sight, out of mind”.

In global health, pharma, and life sciences, leading across geographies means more than juggling time zones—it means building trust zones that span continents. We may not all be in the same room (or awake at the same hour), but connection, cohesion, and shared purpose still must pulse through our teams.

The question I often ask: How can leaders build trust when their teams are spread across the map—and stretched across sleep schedules?

Pharma Companies Getting This Right

It helps to look at real-world organisations that are modelling cohesion across geographies. Here are a few:

Takeda: This Japanese biopharmaceutical company has been hiring remote roles globally (e.g. Clinical Trial Associates, Medical Science Liaison roles) which allow flexibility across time zones. Their remote-friendly job postings suggest an understanding of distributed teams and an established infrastructure for supporting them.
Moderna: Known for leading in vaccine development during the pandemic, Moderna also supports remote and hybrid roles. By doing so, they’ve built cross-regional scientific collaborations that don’t depend on co-location.
Pfizer: As one of the pharma giants, Pfizer has shown adaptability in its remote job offerings and has invested in digital platforms to support distributed project teams.
Novo Nordisk, Roche, GSK, AstraZeneca: These companies appear in rankings of ‘best pharma companies to work for’ in part because of clear mission alignment, strong global cultures, and high employee satisfaction across markets. Those factors support cohesion across geographies.

These are just a few examples – there are many more – What can we learn from them? They don’t simply tolerate time-zone differences—they build structures and cultures around them.

Time Zones Are Logistics. Trust Zones Are Culture.

Yes, time zone logistics matter: meeting scheduling, overlaps, “who stays late so others can join,” etc. But deeper work is required—because without trust, scheduling alone doesn’t build cohesion.

Here are what the trust zones look like in practice:

Informed Meeting Rotations: Rotating meeting times means the same people aren’t always inconvenienced. This can be achieved by ensuring overlap windows for key collaborations and setting up asynchronous updates.
Visibility of Contributions: Some team members may be “offline” more often due to local hours. Leaders or meeting chairs can ensure their work is visible—through shared documents, highlights in team updates, or recognition in group settings.
Cultural Rituals That Bind: Even virtually— ‘time aware’ check-ins, team shout-outs, cross-regional knowledge sharing—rituals that let people know you are aware of where THEY are and feel part of something bigger than time-zone constraints.
Intentional Empathy & Wellbeing Checks: Leaders acknowledging what it means to log in from 2am or late hours, or to juggle local issues (power cuts, internet instability, cultural holidays) demonstrates insight and awareness beyond you own ‘local’ situation.
Consistent Values, Adapted Styles: How you communicate, when you expect responses may vary according to the focus, time or work requirements, but the values—transparency, respect, trust—must remain consistent.

Why This Matters More Than Ever

In pharma and life sciences, delays, misunderstandings, or misalignment can have real impact: On delivery timelines, regulatory submissions, client access. If cohesion falters, outcomes suffer.

Teams that trust one another—even when they are never physically together—tend to be more resilient, innovative, and creative. They share knowledge freely, take initiative, and carry forward purpose across borders.

The Lioness Effect in Action

The lioness teaches us that leadership across terrain doesn’t mean losing connection. It’s about presence of purpose, not presence of body. It’s about being felt, even when apart.

Leadership is not measured by how many meetings you attend—it’s measured by how deeply you root trust in your team across every hour zone, every culture, every distance.

A Question for You

In your teams spanning geographies: Which builds more cohesion—better scheduling across time zones, or deeper practices of trust and recognition?

Ask yourself – What is one courageous step you can take this week to strengthen your trust zone?