Karen Cornwell: Gender Harmony Leads to Innovation

If you have experienced disharmony in your workplace, it might not be because other people are evil and out to get you! It may just be that there’s a clash of different mindsets and a whole host of assumptions being unfairly made. How many great ideas are you missing out on because of this friction? My guest today is author, speaker, and consultant Karen Cornwell. Her goal is to give you the ability to peel back others’ behaviors and glimpse the underlying mindset so you can work together in a more meaningful way. This is how we can leverage differences to drive more innovation, growth, and engagement in the workplace.

Today, Karen and I talk about what gender harmony means, how it impacts mindsets, and how you can assess your own mindsets to better bridge divides and unlock innovation and collaboration. You will love her fabulous example of how empathy in action resulted in multi-million dollar wins for a pharmaceutical company. 

Key Takeaways:

• Our interpretation of events and situations is already colored before we are even aware of what we are doing. This interpretation is different from person to person and is where we either clash or mesh with others around us.
• Buried in our mindsets, our beliefs, assumptions, and values are what we think is most important about both how the world works and how people work together.
• Empathetic cultures boost innovation. If people don’t feel comfortable and listened to, your company will flounder and stagnate.

"It's getting over your own assumptions and into what somebody else is thinking. Often they're not the same, and in those differences and assumptions is where the miracles lie." —  Karen Cornwell

About Karen Cornwell:

Karen Cornwell, Speaker, Consultant, Author

Karen Cornwell spent her career in tech; she lived it, learned from it, and now wants to change the tide for future technology aficionados. She cut her ‘product management’ teeth on designing services to make nuclear power plants more efficient and easier to operate, before moving over to improve services for the semiconductor equipment industry. After years of working in tech, Karen realized that we spend a lot of time tripping over “our differences” in the workplace.

Many of these differences are often thought of as “gendered,” as some originate from stereotypical behavior. You developed your mindset based on how you think. The problem is we don’t all think alike and when we judge others’ behaviors according to our mindsets, we often come up short and have trouble understanding others' behaviors. This is why she wrote her book: You Can’t Fix What You Can’t See: An Eye-Opening Toolkit for Cultivating Gender Harmony in Business. Her goal is to give others the ability to peel back others’ behaviors and glimpse the underlying mindset. Once you understand the mindset, the behavior begins to make sense, and so does your ability to work with the other person in a more meaningful way. This is how we can leverage differences to drive more innovation, growth, and engagement in the workplace.

Karen delivers a wealth of experience in her stories both in her book and from the stage. She demonstrates an uncanny ability to combine aspects of neuroscience, psychology, sociology, and linguistics that leave you thinking, “that makes sense, now I get it.” She has a BS and MS in Engineering and an MBA from Santa Clara University. Karen lives in Silicon Valley with her Chef husband and their three boys.

Connect with Karen Cornwell:  

Book Website (including Blog & Podcast):  https://www.youcantfixwhatyoucantsee.com/

Consulting Website: https://www.attunovation.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenfcornwell/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CornwellKarenF

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gendersavvy/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GenderSavvy

Don’t forget to download your free guide! Discover The 5 Business Benefits of Empathy: http://red-slice.com/business-benefits-empathy

Connect with Maria: 

Get the podcast and book: TheEmpathyEdge.com

Learn more about Maria’s brand strategy work and books: Red-Slice.com

Hire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-Ross

Take my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with Empathy

LinkedIn: Maria Ross

Instagram: @redslicemaria

Twitter: @redslice

Facebook: Red Slice