Empathy Is Not a Weakness—It’s a Leadership Superpower
Empathy is not a weakness. However, it is one of the most misunderstood—and undervalued—leadership strengths in today’s workplace. Too often, it’s mistaken for “being nice” or “softening the blow.” But real empathy has edge. It’s the skill of seeing what others experience and using that insight to lead more effectively, communicate more clearly, and inspire […]
Tips and Strategies for Setting Boundaries With Your Boss
I’d like you to meet Jennifer. Jennifer’s experience highlights tips and strategies for setting boundaries with your boss. Jennifer is a determined and talented marketing professional working in a bustling city. She works at a fast-paced advertising agency known for its high-profile clients and demanding projects. Jen is passionate about her career, always going above […]
Why Employees Love Empathetic Leaders
When you spend time and resources to recruit employees, obviously you want them to stay. Right? If so, empathy is a skill worth paying attention to. This is because empathetic leaders experience less turnover and are loved and appreciated by employees. Empathy works for me in two ways. First, it helps me understand a person’s […]
How to Love Your Flaws
This is true and would have been embarrassing if I hadn’t learned something. I missed the plane. I am blessed and cursed by high levels of attention and focus. In this instance I was traveling to a client 3 hours away and was waiting to board my flight in the first row by the attendant […]
How Do Employees Benefit By Handling Toxic and Narcissistic Bosses?
I would like to tell you that an individual employee does benefit by handling toxic and narcissistic bosses. I can’t, though. I would be lying to you. Perhaps it is possible – maybe even preferable – as you look for a new job. In the long-term, however, no. To handle bosses like this requires avoiding […]
Leading with empathy in the hybrid workplace
Leading with empathy in the hybrid workplace dispels many practices that drove the industrial revolution. For example, the old saying, “It’ business, not personal”, means that financials were more important than anything human. The problem is that for employees it is personal. It is also emotional. Sayings like this serve to discount feelings. It diminishes […]
Red Rock – Black Rock System Decisions
Getty Image As an organizational development Geek, I have been pondering something. Red rock – Black rock. What does cause and effect have on system decisions in a civil Society? I learned about red rock, black rock from a Newport, Washington volunteer firefighter. If there was a forest fire that threatened our cabin on the […]
The Older Team Member – A Business Case for Retaining them
When I was invited to facilitate a group responsible for giving input to the President’s Council on aging in the 1990’s, one of the activities presented at the intergenerational conference was interesting. It told me a lot when it comes to “ageism” in the United States. It also showed me what it means to be […]
How to Resolve Conflict Part 3
The first two parts of this three-part series gave you the basics of how to resolve conflict. So the question now is whether Kirk and Andy will figure out how to resolve conflict in a way that is empowering for both of them? Obviously that takes the desire to collaborate and to drill down to […]
What does effective listening look like?
“You’re not listening to me!” “They never pay attention to what I’m saying.” “I have nothing worthwhile to add.” In a technology oriented, high-speed work environment, communication is important. However, as people become more stressed and have more things to check off their to-do lists, effective listening fades into the background. To ensure that you […]
