Intuitively, you might get the sense that empathy and compassion play a key part in the making of a Culture First organization. Yet their definitions, inherent differences, and potential downfalls remain somewhat of a blur, especially in the context of the workplace.The next two episodes of the Culture First podcast are dedicated to bringing clarity and applicable knowledge around these skills. Part 1 focuses on applied empathy, while Part 2 will bring compassion fatigue into the light.In this episode, Damon meets with Michael Ventura, CEO and founder of Sub Rosa, and author of Applied Empathy. Together they explore topics such as how a manager can assess empathy levels, the kind of questions an empathetic leader should ask, what empathetic decision-making looks like, and whether a manager can build a team that fosters empathy when the larger the organization doesn’t.Next, we hear from Stacey Nordwall, Culture Amp’s People Program Lead about hardwiring empathy within the fabric of People Operations and employee experience.Finally, Damon chats with Ellen Sweeney, Head of People Operations at MeUndies, to learn about how the company approaches this, and how you can screen new hires for high levels of empathy.As a gift to our podcast listeners, we’re offering “Connecting to Your Whole Self”, an excerpt from Michael Ventura’s book Applied Empathy.And if you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and leave us an honest review.To learn more about Michael Ventura, go to https://appliedempathy.com/.To find out more about MeUndies, visit https://www.meundies.com/.To connect with Stacey Nordwall, head to https://www.linkedin.com/in/staceynordwall/.To watch this podcast's video teaser, get an update when new episodes launch or find more information, head over to www.culturefirstpodcast.com, and to learn more about Culture Amp, visit www.cultureamp.com.Host: Culture Amp’s Work Culture Evangelist, Damon Klotz. Production:  Sarah Lessire.Assistant Production: Ayla CleworthEditing: Nick Jaworski at Podcast Monster. Design: Nicole Dominic, Amelia Chieng and Christine Tapawan. Culture Amp Data: Vivian Woo. Video: Kyle Doan. Original music: Sarah Lessire. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The death and rebirth of soft skills, with Claude SilverThey’ve been called fluffy, vital, old school, new age… While few people in the world of work disagree about their benefits, many still argue over what to call them, and how to define them.In this episode, Damon meets with Claude Silver, Chief Heart Officer at VaynerMedia and executive coach, to discuss whether soft skills need rebranding, and what HR and Marketing functions might have in common. Hint: it’s a soft skill.Next, we hear from Dara Blumenthal, Ph.D., developmental coach and critical theorist, to explore what holds people back from adopting and learning soft skills.Finally, Damon chats with Richard Taylor, VP of Employee Experience at Nasdaq to learn about how he approaches this, and what listening means at Nasdaq.As a gift to our podcast listeners, we are offering a free one-on-one coaching session with Claude Silver or Dara Blumenthal. Two winners will be picked and assigned one of the two coaches randomly. To participate in this raffle, head to www.culturefirstpodcast.com/softskills.And if you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and leave us an honest review.To learn more about Claude Silver, go to https://www.claudesilver.com/.To find out more about Kate Snowise, visit https://www.darablumenthal.com/.To connect with Richard Taylor, head to https://www.linkedin.com/in/richptaylor/.To watch this podcast's video teaser, get an update when new episodes launch or find more information, head over to www.culturefirstpodcast.com, and to learn more about Culture Amp, visit www.cultureamp.com.Host: Culture Amp’s Work Culture Evangelist, Damon Klotz. Production:  Sarah Lessire.Assistant Production: Ayla CleworthEditing: Nick Jaworski at Podcast Monster. Design: Nicole Dominic, Amelia Chieng and Christine Tapawan. Culture Amp Data: Vivian Woo. Video: Kyle Doan. Original music: Sarah Lessire. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Simon Sinek identifies two different kinds of games: finite and infinite.Finite games, such as football or chess, have known players, fixed rules, and an agreed-upon objective that often ends the game with a winner and a loser.Infinite games, on the other hand, can be played by known and unknown players, have no exact rules and an infinite length of play. An unshakable optimist, Simon believes in a bright future and works toward improving our ability to build it together. For him, a big part of this relies on the adoption of what he refers to as the “infinite mindset”.In this episode, Damon and Simon explore what an “infinite mindset organization” looks like, what makes a great leader, and we can how to go from being know-it-alls to being a learn-it-alls.Having identified resilience as a core part of the infinite mindset, we then hear from Kate Snowise, founder of Thrive.How and Corporate Psychologist turned Executive Coach. She places resilience at the core of her coaching practice, and talks to us about the unshakeable power of knowing our “Why”.Finally, we get to hear from Garry Ridge, CEO of the exemplary Infinite Mindset company WD-40. Gary and Damon discuss what putting culture - and humans - first looks like at WD-40, and how that has paid off over the years.As a gift to our podcast listeners, we are offering the first chapter of Simon Sinek’s bestseller, “The Infinite Game”. This highly-praised book highlights remarkable patterns about how the greatest leaders and organizations think, act and communicate.If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and leave us an honest review.To get your free download of the first chapter of “The Infinite Game” or read this episode's transcript, head to www.culturefirstpodcast.com/infiniteTo learn more about Simon Sinek, go to https://simonsinek.com/.To find out more about Kate Snowise, visit https://www.thrive.how/.To discover more on Garry Ridge's leadership vision, head to https://thelearningmoment.net/.To watch this podcast's video teaser, get an update when new episodes launch or find more information, head over to www.culturefirstpodcast.com, and to learn more about Culture Amp, visit www.cultureamp.com.Host: Culture Amp’s Work Culture Evangelist, Damon Klotz. Production:  Sarah Lessire.Assistant Production: Ayla CleworthEditing: Nick Jaworski at Podcast Monster. Design: Nicole Dominic, Amelia Chieng and Christine Tapawan. Culture Amp Data: Vivian Woo. Video: Kyle Doan. Original music: Sarah Lessire. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How do we foster love and magic within our organizations? This is the question on which architect Pamela Oshoke Abalu and serial entrepreneur Chinedu Echuero founded the Love & Magic Company. Their job is to help change-makers develop enthused and powerful business solutions. In this episode of the Culture First Podcast, Damon explores with them what it means for work to be “love made visible”.They discuss the concept of seeing your customer or employee as your beloved, designing for your mother, and empathy as fuel for innovation. Later in the episode, Erika Kuhl, former VP of Community at Salesforce, talks to us about her journey building a 3 million+ member thriving Salesforce Trailblazer Community where members go to connect, learn and give back. We learn about her journey having the company recognize the community’s value, and the role that deep listening played.As a gift to our podcast listeners, we are offering Oshoke and Chinedu’s “How To Bring Your Idea To Life”, a profoundly valuable playbook presenting a systematic and scientific approach to organizing teams and innovating.If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and leave us an honest review!To download the “How To Bring Your Idea To Life” Playbook or read this episode's transcript, head to www.culturefirstpodcast.com/loveTo learn more about Oshoke and Chinedu's work, go to https://loveandmagic.company/.To find out more about Erica Kuhl, visit https://www.ericakuhl.comTo watch this podcast's video teaser, get an update when new episodes launch or find more information, head over to www.culturefirstpodcast.com, and to learn more about Culture Amp, visit www.cultureamp.com.Host: Culture Amp’s Work Culture Evangelist, Damon Klotz. Production:  Sarah Lessire.Assistant Production: Ayla CleworthEditing: Nick Jaworski at Podcast Monster. Design: Nicole Dominic, Amelia Chieng and Christine Tapawan. Culture Amp Data: Vivian Woo. Video: Kyle Doan. Original music: Sarah Lessire. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Scaling Culture, with Ambrosia VertesiNumerous organizations face a common dilemma: how to maintain their foundational culture and values while experiencing tremendous growth.In this episode, Damon Klotz sits down with Ambrosia Vertesi, co-founder of HR Open Source and former Vice President of People at Duo Security, to discuss the why and the how of scaling culture.Ambrosia shares many of the lessons she learned during her time at Hootsuite and Duo Security and gives us insight on how to support managers during big company changes. Later in the episode, Molly Graham, Co-Founder of &Then, invites us to dive deeper into what it actually means to “give away legos”, and the vital role that humility plays during fast growth.Lastly, we get to hear Chloe Sesta Jacobs’ running boots on the ground. Chloe is Head of People and Culture at Deputy, a scheduling software company that is experiencing tremendous growth.As a gift to our podcast listeners, we are offering our Culture Crunch Report, a comprehensive collection of trends in employee engagement, organizational design, company culture, leadership and management, and their differences across varying company maturation phases. If you enjoy this episode, subscribe and leave us an honest review!To download the Culture Crunch Report or read this episode's transcript, head to www.culturefirstpodcast.com/scalingTo connect with Ambrosia Vertesi, go to https://ca.linkedin.com/in/ambrosiavertesiTo read Molly Graham's article on sharing legos, go to https://firstround.com/review/give-away-your-legos-and-other-commandments-for-scaling-startups/To find out more about Deputy, visit https://www.deputy.com/To watch this podcast's video teaser, get an update when new episodes launch or find more information, head over to www.culturefirstpodcast.com, and to learn more about Culture Amp, visit www.cultureamp.com.Host: Culture Amp’s Work Culture Evangelist, Damon Klotz. Production:  Sarah Lessire.Assistant Production: Ayla CleworthEditing: Nick Jaworski at Podcast Monster. Design: Nicole Dominic, Amelia Chieng and Christine Tapawan. Culture Amp Data: Vivian Woo. Video: Kyle Doan. Original music: Sarah Lessire. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, Culture Amp’s Work Culture Evangelist Damon Klotz sits down with psychotherapist and best selling author Esther Perel to explore what makes up the fabric of work culture: relationships.Esther shares ways to develop relational intelligence in the workplace, explains where trust originates and how to cultivate it, and gives us insight into how cultures of innovation can be fostered.You’ll also hear the lessons Wade Foster (CEO and Founder of Zapier) and Courtney Seiter (Director of People at Buffer) have learned when it comes to creating fully remote Culture First companies. Listen in at an Ampersand event and meet CEO and Founder Elizabeth Eichorn to learn about how she’s helping others deepen relationships at work.As a gift to our podcast listeners, we’ve partnered with Esther Perel to offer you a highly valuable tool to engage relational intelligence: “8 questions you should ask when hiring someone, by Esther Perel”.To download these questions or read this episode's transcript, head to www.culturefirstpodcast.com/relationshipsTo learn more about Esther Perel, go to https://www.estherperel.com/ or https://howswork.estherperel.com/To find out more about the Ampersand Dinners, visit https://www.ampersanddinner.com/To watch this podcast's video teaser, get an update when new episodes launch or find more information, head over to www.culturefirstpodcast.com, and to learn more about Culture Amp, visit www.cultureamp.com.Host: Culture Amp’s Work Culture Evangelist, Damon Klotz. Production:  Sarah Lessire.Editing: Nick Jaworski at Podcast Monster. Design: Nicole Dominic, Amelia Chieng and Christine Tapawan. Culture Amp Data: Vivian Woo. Video: Kyle Doan. Original music: Sarah Lessire. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Culture First: Stories for a better world of work is a podcast about work culture by Culture Amp, the People & Culture platform.Join host Damon Klotz as he dives into heart-to-heart conversations with well-known and underground culture experts, and hear stories of trials and triumphs by people who are leading the culture first revolution.Guests will include Esther Perel, DeRay McKesson, Chip Conley, Simon Sinek, Claude Silver, and many more.Whether you are a seasoned leader who is passionate about developing people, a new manager aspiring to grow their people skills and better their team's culture, or a lifelong People Geek, this show is for you.Subscribe now.To watch this podcast's video teaser, get an update when new episodes launch or find more information, head over to www.culturefirstpodcast.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.