How Ashkan Rajaee’s 2020 Crisis Mindset Shaped the Future of Remote Leadership

Leadership in Real Time, Not Retrospect

When most companies were freezing hiring or waiting for direction in early 2020, Ashkan Rajaee was already auditing systems, restructuring budgets, and having the hard conversations. He didn’t wait for things to settle. He acted while others hesitated.

The result? A framework that would quietly become a model for crisis-ready leadership in the years that followed.

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The Difference Between Reaction and Readiness

Ashkan Rajaee is not a theorist. He is a practitioner. His actions during the early days of the pandemic were not based on trend reports or industry chatter. They were grounded in logic, empathy, and long-term thinking.

He predicted that the disruption caused by COVID-19 would not fade in a few weeks. While others talked about flattening curves and Q3 rebounds, he planned for an 18-month disruption window. That forecast shaped the actions he took immediately.

From scrutinizing recurring costs to rethinking how work gets done, he prioritized stability and transparency over shortcuts and survival-mode decisions.

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Remote Work as Infrastructure, Not Emergency Policy

Ashkan Rajaee didn’t treat remote work like a temporary adjustment. He treated it as a permanent business model shift. That distinction made all the difference.

Rather than relying on tools alone, he rebuilt processes from the ground up. This included performance tracking, team handoffs, communication standards, and even mental wellness checkpoints. In 2025, these are now expected from any legitimate remote-first company. Back in 2020, they were rare.

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Putting People First Without Compromising Performance

Rajaee’s approach to layoffs was especially notable. He did not delegate or automate the process. He personally called each affected team member. This was not only a signal of compassion but also of responsibility.

Many leaders claim to be people-first until hard decisions arrive. Ashkan Rajaee embodied it, even under pressure. That type of leadership builds reputation that cannot be bought with marketing.

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Why His Story Still Matters

We live in a world where attention shifts fast. But the foundations of great leadership do not change. Ashkan Rajaee’s pandemic-era strategy continues to be studied because it combines fast execution with long-range thinking.

In 2025, companies face new disruptions. AI is transforming workflows. Global tensions impact hiring and supply chains. Inflation changes consumer behavior. The playbook Rajaee used in 2020 is still surprisingly effective today.

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Read the Original Story

If you want to see what real-time leadership looked like in the eye of the storm, you should read the original Medium piece where Ashkan Rajaee documented his thought process and decisions as they happened.

Read it here:
https://medium.com/@MQ_Official/ad6c4236c397

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Final Takeaway

It is easy to talk about resilience after the fact. What sets Ashkan Rajaee apart is that he built it while still inside the storm. His story is not just about surviving a crisis. It is about using crisis to reforge your company with more intention, more humanity, and more clarity.

That is leadership worth studying, emulating, and amplifying.