The Empathy Edge

We've been through some serious business and culture shifts the last few years. But this is the way things always are. If it's not COVID, it will surely be something else in the future. Remember, the only constant is change, even if you don't ask or plan for it. How can you examine, design and measure your organization's ability  - and your own leadership ability - to build trust so you can more easily adapt to change and bring your people along?My guest today is Esther Weinberg, Founder and Chief Leadership Development Officer of The Ready Zone. Esther shares six Zone Performance Indicators, of ZPI's that are paramount to profitable growth. We also had a rich conversation about how emotions, body, and language impact performance in a real way, how emotions are  "signposts" that should not be ignored, and how to look at complaints as commitments - and offer some tough love advice if you're a leader struggling to get comfortable with dealing with emotions if you want to achieve high performance. We both have some choice words for you at the end of our interview! Key Takeaways:As your company changes, it may be time to usher people out of the organization (with empathy and dignity) who are no longer a fit for the changes the company has had and hire someone else who may be a better fit for the new place the company is in. Culture transcends the physical office space. If your culture is not portable, that’s where the effort needs to be.Create a vision narrative (not just a vision tagline). Give the vision a story that people can get behind and want to be a part of creating.If you hear a complaint as a commitment, think about how that changes what you’re hearing and what action you are willing to take.  "Emotions are signposts about what is important to us. You have to actually ground yourself in them to see whether or not your emotions are telling you the truth and are leading you in the direction of something that's important to you." —  Esther Weinberg About Esther Weinberg, Founder, The Ready ZoneEsther Weinberg is a business growth accelerator that equips executives in high-growth industries to create big pivots, big impact and big returns. As Founder & Chief Leadership Development Officer of The Ready Zone, she powerfully fast-tracks an organization’s progress by focusing on The Ready Zone’s six Zone Performance Indicators (ZPIs), that are paramount to profitable growth. Esther’s innovative strategies have assisted clients to grow, scale and thrive in the worst and best of times including Netflix, NBCUniversal, Microsoft, CNN, Adobe, Disney, and IMAX. Esther is a member of the Forbes Coaches Council and a contributor to Forbes. Connect with Esther WeinbergWebsite: https://thereadyzone.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/estherweinberg/Her Book: Better Leaders. Better People. Better Results. 6 Eye-Opening Strategies to Thrive Through Change You Didn't Ask For: https://thereadyzone.com/resources/  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.comLearn more about Maria and her work: Red-Slice.comHire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-RossTake my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with EmpathyLinkedIn: Maria RossInstagram: @redslicemariaTwitter: @redsliceFacebook: Red Slice We would love to get your thoughts on the show! Please click https://bit.ly/edge-feedback to take this 5-minute survey, thanks!

If you've ever experienced the healthcare system due to a medical emergency or a chronic illness, then you know the system is often set up to deliver cookie cutter outputs based on inputs. There is little room for "true empathy" even though many healthcare professionals want to help people. In healthcare - and in our workplaces and organizations - we tend to get empathy wrong! Empathy is not about being nice, quickly easing someone's pain or solving their problem. Empathy is about being with someone, deeply listening, and adapting based on their history, context and point of view. That's how you find root causes and effectively and collaboratively solve problems for the long term - rather than band-aiding challenges for the short term.It was a joy today to speak to functional nutritionist, Andrea Nakayama. We discuss how a personal tragedy when she was just 7 weeks pregnant led her to the work of empowering health practitioners to rethink nutrition, systems and care protocols. Andrea shares what the Empathy Trap is and why so many of us fall into it, leading to negative results.  Tune in if you say you're empathetic but constantly feel anxious and overwhelmed! We discuss how to balance empathy with personal boundaries through her ART framework for patient care - which is a powerful tool for any leader in any industry. Andrea also shared her perspective on the health conversations coming out of the pandemic around mental health and wellness. I had such an epiphany  in this interview about HOW we can show empathy without losing ourselves - and how to problem solve with empathy - take a listen! Key Takeaways:In functional nutrition and functional medicine, it is about creating a therapeutic partnership, looking for root causes, and taking a systems based approach. Doctors do not get a lot of nutrition training in medical school. They can’t know what they don’t know and, a lot of the time, they are not willing to make recommendations they cannot follow up on or know how to follow up on. In health care, the training is about the x for the y. We need to broaden our perspective of what healthcare is, how people have access, and understand that the solution is multidimensional.  "Oftentimes, we overlap the problem and the solution, we spend five minutes on the problem and 45 minutes on the solution. And we actually have to flip that: When we spend more time in the assessment, we better understand our road to a sustainable solution." —  Andrea Nakayama  About Andrea Nakayama, Functional Nutritionist:As the host of the 15-Minute Matrix Podcast and the founder of Functional Nutrition Alliance, Andrea is leading thousands of students and practitioners around the globe in a revolution to offer better solutions to the growing chronic illness epidemic. By highlighting the importance of systems biology, root cause methodology, and therapeutic partnerships, she helps historically underserved individuals reclaim ownership of their health.References Mentioned:Rhonda Manns, The Empathy Edge podcast, Design Thinking in Healthcare - and BeyondConnect with Andrea Nakayama:Website: https://andreanakayama.comFX Nutrition: https://www.fxnutrition.com/about-andrea/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreanakayama/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndreaNakayama.pageInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreanakayama/  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.comLearn more about Maria and her work: Red-Slice.comHire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-RossTake my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with EmpathyLinkedIn: Maria RossInstagram: @redslicemariaTwitter: @redsliceFacebook: Red Slice We would love to get your thoughts on the show! Please click https://bit.ly/edge-feedback to take this 5-minute survey, thanks!

What is it like to go through life as a man, build a successful career, get married and have kids -  and then come out as a woman in your late 40's? What is it like to experience life from a different gender vantage point? How is your culture creating an environment where diverse people of all backgrounds, such as trans individuals, can do their best work?These are the questions we tackle today with my guest, culture and leadership consultant Cori Lovejoy. In October of 2020, Cori came out as a transgender woman and took a sabbatical to focus on her transition. Now, she is dedicating the next phase of her work to helping leaders create organizational cultures that are inclusive, diverse, equitable, welcoming, and ultimately more compassionate. She is motivated by a deep conviction that workplace cultures can contribute to employee well-being while achieving maximum organizational effectiveness and impact.Today Cori shares her personal journey to coming out as trans, how it has impacted her life, and what she learned about white male privilege and how differently men and women are treated. We also share the important work your leaders and organization can do to create a more inclusive culture where smart, talented people in underrepresented groups can contribute fully to your success.  Take a listen but first a trigger warning: We discuss the topics of suicide, addiction, and eating disorders in this episode. If you're facing mental health issues or thoughts of suicide, please dial 988 in the US or reach out for mental health services in your country.  Please take care of yourself. Key Takeaways:Everybody has their own story, their own journey, and their own challenges. It is not for us to judge what others are going through, regardless of their stage of life.The way men and women are perceived in society is different. With the same behavior, men are perceived as assertive, women are perceived as aggressive. In most cases, this is unconscious bias, but it is happening every day.Respect is the key. Use people’s correct pronouns, affirm their gender identity, and trust that they know who they are. Learning to love yourself unconditionally, whether trans or cis, is a common human experience.  "Proximity, perspective taking, and personal work will unearth these biases, and make the unconscious biases conscious. And that takes a lot of introspection and personal work." —  Cori Lovejoy About Cori Lovejoy , Culture and Leadership ConsultantIn October of 2020, Cori came out as a transgender woman and took a sabbatical to focus on her transition. Now, she is dedicating the next phase of her work to helping leaders create organizational cultures that are inclusive, diverse, equitable, welcoming, and ultimately more compassionate. She is motivated by a deep conviction that workplace cultures can contribute to employee well-being while achieving maximum organizational effectiveness and impact.As Director of Compassion for Brighton Jones, a wealth management company based in the Pacific Northwest of the US, Cori designed and led the company’s Mindfulness-based Emotional and Social Intelligence (MESI) program, established to support employees in becoming more compassionate through training in mindfulness, self-awareness, empathy, and compassion. Cori also led MESI workshops for other companies, local non-profits, as well as Brighton Jones clients. In addition, she co-founded and organized the Compassionate Leadership Summit, an annual conference centered on compassion and mindfulness that grew to over 500 participants and 50 presenters in less than two years, and she taught a course in Compassionate Leadership at Washington State University as a Teaching Associate Professor.Before joining Brighton Jones in 2015, Cori spent over 15 years in various leadership roles within the wealth management industry and then several years as an independent leadership coach and organizational development consultant. She holds an MBA in wealth management and an MA in organizational leadership.Connect with Cori LovejoyLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/corilovejoyFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/cory.custer.75Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cori.lovejoy/Resources MentionedThe Empathy Edge podcast, Cori's past interview (as Cory Custer) How a Compassionate Culture Leads to SuccessPaula Stone Williams, TEDx talk: I've Lived as a Man and Woman. Here's What I've Learned 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.comLearn more about Maria and her work: Red-Slice.comHire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-RossTake my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with EmpathyLinkedIn: Maria RossInstagram: @redslicemariaTwitter: @redsliceFacebook: Red Slice We would love to get your thoughts on the show! Please click https://bit.ly/edge-feedback to take this 5-minute survey, thanks!

How often do you challenge your assumptions about others and get curious - especially about those in your workplace or your family who have different views than you, political or otherwise? In our increasingly polarized society, my guest today, Mónica Guzmán, believes that we can't count on institutions to bridge those divides for us - we have to do it one conversation, one person, at a time.  Today, we discussed how she got involved in the work of helping people understand each other better and what role her journalism career played in that mission. We dived into how to bring emotion back into conversations rather than trying to win arguments with data, and a magic question you can ask people who disagree with you to better understand them. We talked about how to have more curious conversations and how to navigate roadblocks. Some great tips for those of you going into election season or tense family dinners over the holidays!Key Takeaways:You can’t have a negotiation if there is no talking. We are judging more while talking less and that only leads further to divide, and not to empathy and understanding.The level we think change doesn’t matter, one-on-one conversations, is where change happens the most.You often believe that the people that you love and care about who disagree with you are not the majority but an exception to the rule. However, if you talk with others who disagree with you, you will find out that they are not the exception, but the rule"If we don't engage across disagreement, we risk not seeing variables that are really important to other people, and make for a far more honest accounting of everything that's at play when people make decisions." —  Mónica GuzmánAbout Mónica Guzmán, Senior Fellow for Public Practice at Braver Angels:Mónica Guzmán is a bridge builder, journalist, and entrepreneur who lives for great conversations sparked by curious questions. She’s the director of digital and storytelling at Braver Angels, the nation’s largest cross-partisan grassroots organization working to depolarize America; host of live interview series at Crosscut; and cofounder of the award-winning Seattle newsletter The Evergrey. Monica's new book, I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times has been praised by the media, readers and influencers alike. She was a 2019 fellow at the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, where she studied social and political division, and a 2016 fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, where she researched how journalists can rethink their roles to better meet the needs of a participatory public. She was named one of the 50 most influential women in Seattle, served twice as a juror for the Pulitzer Prizes, and plays a barbarian named Shadrack in her besties’ Dungeons & Dragons campaign. A Mexican immigrant, Latina, and dual US/Mexico citizen, she lives in Seattle with her husband and two kids and is the proud liberal daughter of conservative parents.Resources  Mentioned:The Empathy Edge: Interview with Edwin Rutsch, How Empathy Circles Can Change the WorldCenter for Building a Culture of Empathyhttp://cultureofempathy.com Empathy Circle Websitehttp://www.empathycircle.com Check out Edwin and an Empathy Circle in action in the documentary Trumphobia: What Both Sides Fear: trumphobiamovie.com/watchConnect with Mónica Guzmán:Braver Angels Website: https://braverangels.org/Monica's Website and info about her book, I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times: https://reclaimcuriosity.comWebsite: https://moniguzman.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/moniguzmanLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moniguzman/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reclaimcuriosityInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/moniguzman/  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.comLearn more about Maria and her work: Red-Slice.comHire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-RossTake my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with EmpathyLinkedIn: Maria RossInstagram: @redslicemariaTwitter: @redsliceFacebook: Red Slice We would love to get your thoughts on the show! Please click https://bit.ly/edge-feedback to take this 5-minute survey, thanks!

Can we ever bridge our political divides here in the US? Every day, things seem to get worse. We argue over guns, abortion, civil rights, and whether removing state secrets from the White House and locking them in your safe at home constitutes a crime. But what would happen if people on both sides could engage in meaningful dialogue? What if we all took personal responsibility to spot the lies by getting curious and doing our homework? Today, I got to talk to a Twitter influencer I've been following for some time now, David Weissman. David and I discuss his story and how he grew up only consuming Conservative information and assumed it was all true. How we believed Democrats were trying to hurt this country and the shared values that attracted him to Trump's campaign in 2016. David talks about how one Twitter conversation with actress and comedian Sarah Silverman sparked his curiosity to dig deeper into the Constitution and pundit claims, where he realized how many fear-based lies he had been told. Having stood in both camps, I ask him what we should know about why the Conservative message resonates with people, and how he thinks we can find common ground one empathetic conversation at a time.  Key Takeaways:Kindness and civil conversation will go further than name-calling or mudslinging ever will, regardless of which side of the conversational divide you are on. The magic of empathy is that if we can really deeply listen and understand that we can deeply listen without agreeing with each other, initially, we can at least have a conversation. People will not always change what they believe even when faced with facts. They have to be willing to change, do their own research, and see things from a different perspective.  "No one tried to convert me, and that made me more curious and made me want to ask questions." —  David WeissmanAbout David Weissman: Army Vet, Former Trump Supporter Turned Jewish Liberal Democrat, and Political Opinion WriterDavid Weisman is an Army Veteran, having served throughout the US and overseas for 13 years in Germany and Afghanistan as a Chaplain's Assistant. He has politically gone from Republican Conservative to Tea Party to MAGA to Independent and now Jewish liberal progressive. By sharing his journey of curiosity about the differences between the Democrat and Republican agendas, he's gained a huge following on Twitter, more than 300k followers. He uses that platform to share information, engage in dialogue, and ask questions.  David is currently getting his college degree in social work at the University of Central Florida.Connect with DavidTwitter: https://twitter.com/davidmweissmanReferences Mentioned:"I Thought Trump Was for Me. Now I'm Organizing Against Him", by David Weissman, ForwardWhere the Jan 6 Insurrection Investigation Stands: One Year Later, NPR. FBI tapes of Danny Rodriquez.Bag Man, podcast series by Rachel Maddow, MSNBC. 2018.  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.comLearn more about Maria’s brand strategy work and books: Red-Slice.comHire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-RossTake my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with EmpathyLinkedIn: Maria RossInstagram: @redslicemariaTwitter: @redsliceFacebook: Red Slice We would love to get your thoughts on the show! Please click https://bit.ly/edge-feedback to take this 5-minute survey, thanks!

Today, Maria is not messing around! Learn why change is hard, even when it's a good thing, and what you can do to break free of past habits. When infusing more empathy into your leadership, culture, or brand, you may face internal or external resistance - but that has nothing to do with whether you are going in the right direction or not. It's a sign of transformation.Hear how our brains work and why it is so painful to learn new skills and habits even when they benefit us. She shares what her brain injury recovery taught her about building new skills and strategies to get to success, how adapting to change is like learning to drive, and why the status quo is just easier on our brains. You'll leave this episode fired up to evolve your leadership style and bring your organizations along with you to adapt and thrive in the modern business era. Key Takeaways:You have to appeal to both emotions and logic. Logic and data are never going to be enough to get people to take action. Change requires us to use the more conscious parts of our brains and does not allow us to operate on autopilot. The friction you feel during change is not because you’re going down the wrong path, it is that your brain is trying to take you down familiar, habitual paths.  "If logic were enough, we would all embrace positive change with open arms." —  Maria RossReferences Mentioned:The Empathy Edge Podcast, Episode 117 with Melina Palmer, What Your Employees Need But Can't Tell YouThe Empathy Edge Podcast Episode 77 with Melina Palmer, Why Your Customers Can't Tell You What They Want  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.comLearn more about Maria and her work: Red-Slice.comHire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-RossTake my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with EmpathyLinkedIn: Maria RossInstagram: @redslicemariaTwitter: @redsliceFacebook: Red Slice We would love to get your thoughts on the show! Please click https://bit.ly/edge-feedback to take this 5-minute survey, thanks!

Change is hard, even when it's a change that makes our lives easier. Today, I speak with Melina Palmer, CEO of The Brainy Business, expert in behavioral economics for organizations around the world, and the author of What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You. We give you a refresher on behavioral economics and how our human brains work - especially the conscious and unconscious parts of our brains.  We discuss why change is hard, even when it's a good change, and how leaders get change massively wrong. Melina will share her framework called "It's Not About the Cookie" and how it applies to any employee initiative. She also shares her top tip for those who want to have more influence at work. Key Takeaways:Change doesn’t need to be hard, you just need to understand what motivates the people you are trying to change - education alone will never be enough. Create a culture of feedback and input, solicit that feedback, then actually implement those ideas. Be transparent about your change management. The more transparent you are along the way, the more people can trust the process. "Every conversation and initiative is a change conversation or initiative - you are either in the midst of change, in the wake of change that has already happened, or building up to the next change." —  Melina Palmer About Melina Palmer, CEO and author of What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell YouMelina Palmer is the founder and CEO of The Brainy Business, which provides behavioral economics consulting to businesses of all sizes from around the world. Her podcast, The Brainy Business: Understanding the Psychology of Why People Buy, has downloads in over 170 countries and is used as a resource for teaching applied behavioral economics for many universities and businesses. Melina obtained her master’s in behavioral economics from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. A proud member of the Global Association of Applied Behavioral Scientists, Melina has contributed research to the Association for Consumer Research, Filene Research Institute, and writes the Behavioral Economics & Business column for Inc Magazine. She teaches applied behavioral economics through the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab. Her first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, was published in May 2021 and was a finalist in two categories of the International Book Awards. Her second book, What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, is out as of October 2022.Connect with Melina PalmerThe Brainy Business Website: https://www.thebrainybusiness.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/thebrainybizLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melinapalmer/Facebook: https://facebook.com/thebrainybizInstagram: https://instagram.com/thebrainybizReferences MentionedMelina Palmer on The Empathy Edge podcast, Why Your Customers Can't Tell You What They WantSpecial link to get your free chapter of both of Melina's books: www.thebrainybusiness.com/empathyedge  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.comLearn more about Maria’s work: Red-Slice.comHire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-RossTake my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with EmpathyLinkedIn: Maria RossInstagram: @redslicemariaTwitter: @redsliceFacebook: Red Slice We would love to get your thoughts on the show! Please click https://bit.ly/edge-feedback to take this 5-minute survey, thanks!

We, as marketers, all understand how important it is to get to know our customers. But what discipline are we bringing to that process? Do we understand the many levels of empathy we need to have for them, and how to translate those insights into the customer experience and product or service?Today, Emily Vernon, shares so much wisdom about how to look at our customers' experience. We talk about the cumulative experience and how brands can shift from being reactive to cultural moments to being more proactive. Emily shares the three altitudes of empathy - the layers at which we need to understand our customers in order to create an engaging experience. We discuss how brand experience is shifting from user-centricity to human centricity, and requires leaders to address more complex, emotional needs (yes, even in B2B!). We chat about how empathy should be viewed as a skill, not a trait.  She also shares 5 empathy exercise types so you avoid seeing customer insight gathering as one-dimensional and discover which ones your brand is doing well, versus what you may be missing to get a fuller picture.  Today's episode may change the way you gather customer insights from now on! Key Takeaways:You have to understand your customers as people, not as a broad, generic demographic. In order to connect with the right people, some people won’t like you. B2B has evolved over the last 20 years, but it is important to remember that you’re selling to humans, who justify emotions with logic, but are still buying with emotion. There is more than one way to look at empathy exercises. It is important to look at empathy from all angles, gather and analyze that information, and then implement with your team and see what sticks. "We bring meaning in terms of how we live, we bring meaning in terms of how we do our job. There's much more of a movement in B2B to start to look at things emotionally." —  Emily Vernon About Emily Vernon, Customer Experience Consultant an, B2B Experience Lead:Emily consults Reckitt around the end-to-end experience for B2B hygiene solutions. For more than ten years, both agency- and client-side, she has enabled brands to better engage their audiences through experience, ranging from products to service rituals, physical environments to digital platforms. She’s been honored to have worked with some of the top brands within work, travel, luxury and wellbeing including Lego, IHG, Clinique, Shimano and Converse. Collaborations with these brands and others have been featured in Highsnobiety, Hypebeast, Wallpaper*, Transform and Frame Magazine.Emily's experiences with stand-up comedy, offshore sailing and living abroad have cultivated her belief that we should always question the default.Resources MentionedDecisive: how to Make Better Choices in Life and Work by Chip and Dan HeathThe Empathy Edge podcast with Michelle Wucker: How Risk Empathy Impacts Team PerformanceConnect with Emily VernonWebsite: https://emilyvernon.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilygvernon/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilygv/  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.comLearn more about Maria’s brand strategy work and books: Red-Slice.comHire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-RossTake my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with EmpathyLinkedIn: Maria RossInstagram: @redslicemariaTwitter: @redsliceFacebook: Red Slice We would love to get your thoughts on the show! Please click https://bit.ly/edge-feedback to take this 5-minute survey, thanks!

Leadership has changed in the last few years, and it can be disorienting for leaders who've subscribed to and succeeded with the old narratives about good leadership. Companies and their leaders need to reframe their cultures to meet the new world of work in the 21st century. It's more than just being nice or being a "cool" boss or giving everyone free lunch. It requires deep and honest self-assessment and a growth mindset to shore up those necessary skills. My guest today, Lisen Stromberg, tells us what skills are required for modern leaders to be successful and how cultures can transform for maximum success. We discuss where existing leadership and culture paradigms came from and how they have changed, what skills modern leaders require for success, outlined in Prismwork's HEARTI model, and Lisen also shares her research project on men and male leaders in the workplace that they are doing in partnership with the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.  Men and male-identifying leaders, you're invited to take the survey linked in the show notes to share your experience. Key Takeaways:The army originally established the tenants of leadership back in the 1940s. That is not what is still needed in the modern business world. Influence has changed, leadership has changed, and it will continue to evolve as well. A failure of leadership that we see all the time is when a leader comes in, they do a great job creating a culture, leave, and then that just all falls away.Many leaders may not have the language, but are already doing the right things to promote equity and allyship in their company, even if they don’t know that they are doing so.Culture is a competitive advantage that is hard to replicate.  "Culture is the competitive advantage. If you don't know how your culture is operating, and don't have a North Star of where you want to go, you're not going to win. You're going to lose in the war for talent, profits, investors…in the war for all." —  Lisen Stromberg About Lisen Stromberg, CEO and Co-founder, Prismwork Lisen Stromberg is CEO and Co-Founder of PrismWork, a culture transformation and leadership development consultancy. She is a highly sought-after speaker and thought leader on the future of work. Her book, Work Pause Thrive: How to Pause for Parenthood Without Killing Your Career, covers how highly achieving women have navigated the work/life integration issue by crafting nonlinear careers.Connect with Lisen StrombergPrismWork: https://prismwork.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/LisenStrombergLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisenstromberg/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisenstromberg/References MentionedMen and male-identifying knowledge workers, any level: Please take Prismwork's and W. K. Kellogg Foundation's research survey on men in the workplace. Your input is invaluable to the research: www.menatworkresearch.comPrimswork's HEARTI Quotient inclusive leadership assessment for the 21st Century: HEARTI stands for Humility, EMPATHY, Accountability, Resiliency, Transparency, and Inclusivity. It is built on assessments with hundreds of leaders across numerous industries as well as extensive research on modern leadership competencies. Re:Work, Understand Team Effectiveness. Info on Google's Project Aristotle. What is Psychological Safety? Google's checklist to ensure psychological safety Josh Lev: The Top Global Expert for Modern Dads at WorkRebecca Friese The Empathy Edge interview: How to Build a Good CultureJosh Levine The Empathy Edge interview: Building an Empathetic CultureSusan Hunt Stevens, The Empathy Edge interview: The ROI of Psychological Safety  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.comLearn more about Maria’s brand strategy work and books: Red-Slice.comHire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-RossTake my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with EmpathyLinkedIn: Maria RossInstagram: @redslicemariaTwitter: @redsliceFacebook: Red Slice We would love to get your thoughts on the show! Please click https://bit.ly/edge-feedback to take this 5-minute survey, thanks!

What is a badass leader? According to my guest today, they're badasses who go 80MPH in a 45MPH zone but don’t always check to see if their team is strapped in or interested in going for the ride. These leaders are high value to a company but their "prickly" edges may start to diminish their value. But what if we could help those leaders embrace more empathy and channel that energy and drive into success and innovation? What is the opportunity cost of dismissing or sidelining such prickly leaders? Executive coach and advisor Parissa Behnia coaches C Suite and Senior leaders who are high will - high skill and have a growth mindset. Today, we talk about the hierarchy of prickly leadership, why many 3D leaders actually do care about the negative impact they have but are not sure how to change the dynamic; why they protect themselves so much, and how they can use her EMPATHY framework to create stronger relationships, set aside ego, and have much more influence and success.  Key Takeaways:You don’t have to like a leader personally to understand the radical impact that they've had on us and on society.Once we start learning to have acceptance for our vulnerability, it becomes easier to have a conversation about leadership ultimately being about humanity, and not about the "doing" of whatever it is that they do.A manager worries about doing things right, a leader worries about doing the right things. In terms of empathy, when it comes to leadership, it's really about content and context."The number one problem with badasses is that they're called " too much" whereas I think they're exactly what we need." —  Parissa BehniaAbout Parissa Behnia,  Executive Coach and AdvisorParissa Behnia coaches C Suite and Senior leaders who are high will - high skill and have a growth mindset. In other words, they're badasses like you who go 80MPH in a 45MPH zone but don’t always check to see if their team is strapped in or interested in going for the ride. These leaders are high value to a company but their edges may start to diminish their value. These days, leadership is full of complexities whether you’re navigating from an audacious goal or trying to avoid that iceberg up ahead. In either case, Parissa's clients choose her because she's either sat in those seats or next to those seats often enough to know how it can feel to be alone in a crowded leadership room. She's unafraid to speak truth to power to help propel you forward. With over 20 years of corporate, consulting, coaching, Parissa’s key strategic difference is Empathy as a strategic imperative. She’s so passionate about employing empathy in business that she’s developed the Sixense Empathy Model™.  Parissa has taught entrepreneurship seminars and is a frequent speaker on strategy, leadership and entrepreneurship. She is a Certified Professional Coach, holds a BA from Northwestern University and MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business.References Mentioned:Empathy Edge Podcast Episode with Paul Marobella, Leading Through Crisis: https://theempathyedge.com/paul-marobella-leading-through-crisis/Connect with Parissa BehniaSixense Coaching: www.sixensestrategy.comLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/behniaInconceivable Influence Coaching Program: https://bit.ly/InconceivableInfluence. A group program for leaders and aspiring leaders who want to convert their raw power into influence.  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.comLearn more about Maria’s brand strategy work and books: Red-Slice.comHire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-RossTake my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with EmpathyLinkedIn: Maria RossInstagram: @redslicemariaTwitter: @redsliceFacebook: Red Slice We would love to get your thoughts on the show! Please click https://bit.ly/edge-feedback to take this 5-minute survey, thanks!