The Death of the Desk

Everywhere I go lately, leaders are asking the same thing:
How do we reignite excitement, loyalty, and commitment to the vision?
How do we get people to care again?

It’s the question of our time.
And yet, every time I hear it, I can’t help but wonder…
are we even looking in the right direction?

Because while leaders talk about culture and connection,
many of them are designing environments that do the exact opposite.

The Great Disconnect

Post-COVID, organizations have been scrambling to “rebuild connection.”
And in the process, they’ve created something that feels more like an airport terminal than a workplace.

Leaders point fingers, asking:
“Why don’t people want to come back to the office?”
“Don’t they understand the value of being around others…, learning from senior people, collaborating, sharing energy?”

But then you walk into one of these offices… and what do you find?

Unassigned desks.
Communal tables.
Rows of identical monitors and rolling chairs that belong to no one.
You spend the first twenty minutes of your day just finding a spot…
or worse, discovering someone’s already sitting in the one you booked.

The irony?
We tell people this setup is about “collaboration” and “flexibility.”
But it’s not.
It’s about cost.

It’s about square footage.
It’s about optics.
And it’s killing culture faster than any remote work policy ever could.

What We Lost

I remember when your desk was yours.
You had your name on it.
A plant.
A photo.
Maybe a half-empty jar of peanut butter or your favorite mug.
It wasn’t just where you worked…, it was where you belonged.

You could walk by a colleague’s desk and see a piece of who they were.
Their personality.
Their story.
Their pride.

Those desks told a quiet story of loyalty…
of people who showed up, contributed, cared.

There was a sense of accomplishment in finally getting your own office.
Not ego…, ownership.
It said: You’ve earned this.
And that feeling mattered.

Because those small, personal touches created emotional investment…
and with it, commitment.

You can’t inspire loyalty in a space that feels temporary.

The Culture Mirage

Now?
We’ve got “open concepts” where even the most senior people have no offices.
No privacy, no ownership, no pride of place.

We hide behind “collaboration,” but the truth is…it’s sterile.
People are quieter.
Less connected.
Less invested.

And then we turn around and wonder where the energy went.
Where the work ethic went.
Where the sense of community went.

It didn’t disappear.
We stripped it away, piece by piece, in the name of progress.

The Real Cost of Efficiency

There’s a dangerous illusion at play:
that a modern workspace automatically means a modern culture.

But culture isn’t in the floor plan.
It’s in how people feel.

When you design workplaces that make people feel like placeholders…,
don’t be surprised when they act like placeholders.

When you remove belonging, you remove pride.
When you remove pride, you remove commitment.
And when you remove commitment, you lose the soul of your organization.

All in the name of efficiency.

What Leaders Need to Remember

If you want loyalty…show it first.
If you want enthusiasm…create spaces that feel alive.
If you want commitment…give people something worth committing to.

Maybe it’s time to stop asking why people don’t want to come in…
and start asking what we’ve done to make it worth coming in for.

Because loyalty isn’t a policy or a program.
It’s a feeling.
And feelings are built through connection, not convenience.

Some things didn’t need to be reinvented.
Some things weren’t broken.
And until we remember that, we’ll keep wondering why culture feels emptier…,
even when the offices look full.

Where Loyalty Really Begins

You can’t inspire loyalty in a space that feels temporary.
And you can’t build a lasting culture on foundations that erase belonging.

Bring back pride.
Bring back ownership.
Bring back the desk.

It’s this kind of leadership understanding…
the awareness that loyalty, belonging, and care can’t be demanded, only earned…,
that shapes how we show up both inside and outside the office walls.

And it’s exactly what inspired my first book, Leadership at the Dinner Table.

If you’ve been following this journey, I’d love for you to join the waitlist and be part of what’s next.

With Absolute Sincerity,

Ed Clementi
Founder & CEO of Inspired Fire, LLC

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