In this episode host Justin McMenamy welcomes fellow leadership podcaster Erin Thorpe.  Across the conversation each discusses formative early-career experiences and how they shaped their mid-career focus on leadership. Both reflect on how not fitting within organizational norms can bleed into lowered self-worth, and they discuss a framework of being “refined” versus “consumed” by adversity, emphasizing that not every bad day warrants resignation and that staying in discomfort can build tenacity.   They explore differences between technical and people skills, contrasting engineering’s black-and-white mindset versus the negotiated nature of relationships.   Erin describes her path into podcasting: authoring a book in 2016 and later starting the “Tactical Empathy" podcast. Erin explains tactical empathy as a practical leadership tool that balances understanding self and others while maintaining high standards and execution, countering the idea that empathy is a mask for weakness or lowered expectations.   She offers ways to build empathy as a muscle: frequent self-check-ins, acknowledging feelings, validating others without necessarily agreeing, and resisting the urge to immediately fix problems.

In this episode host Justin McMenamy welcomes fellow leadership podcaster Erin Thorpe. Across the conversation each discusses formative early-career experiences and how they shaped their mid-career focus on leadership. Both reflect on how not fitting within organizational norms can bleed into lowered self-worth, and they discuss a framework of being “refined” versus “consumed” by adversity, emphasizing that not every bad day warrants resignation and that staying in discomfort can build tenacity. They explore differences between technical and people skills, contrasting engineering’s black-and-white mindset versus the negotiated nature of relationships. Erin describes her path into podcasting: authoring a book in 2016 and later starting the “Tactical Empathy" podcast. Erin explains tactical empathy as a practical leadership tool that balances understanding self and others while maintaining high standards and execution, countering the idea that empathy is a mask for weakness or lowered expectations. She offers ways to build empathy as a muscle: frequent self-check-ins, acknowledging feelings, validating others without necessarily agreeing, and resisting the urge to immediately fix problems.

In this episode host Justin McMenamy welcomes fellow leadership podcaster Erin Thorpe.&nbsp; Across the conversation each discusses formative early-career experiences and how they shaped their mid-career focus on leadership. Both reflect on how not fitting within organizational norms can bleed into lowered self-worth, and they discuss a framework of being “refined” versus “consumed” by adversity, emphasizing that not every bad day warrants resignation and that staying in discomfort can build tenacity. &nbsp; They explore differences between technical and people skills, contrasting engineering’s black-and-white mindset versus the negotiated nature of relationships. &nbsp; Erin describes her path into podcasting: authoring a book in 2016 and later starting the “Tactical Empathy" podcast. Erin explains tactical empathy as a practical leadership tool that balances understanding self and others while maintaining high standards and execution, countering the idea that empathy is a mask for weakness or lowered expectations. &nbsp; She offers ways to build empathy as a muscle: frequent self-check-ins, acknowledging feelings, validating others without necessarily agreeing, and resisting the urge to immediately fix problems.

Building Empathy w. Erin Thorp

Hello and welcome to Grody &amp; UnPrOfEsSiOnAL, my name is Justin McMenamy, and my mission is to share both profitable and painful leadership lessons I have acquired over a twenty-year career as a misfit in corporate America.    Like everyone, I have worked with and for hundreds of leaders across my career. While some leaders are great, and many are good, the vast majority find themselves tossed into leadership and left to figure it out on their own.  Grody &amp; Unprofessional seeks to share leadership stories harvested from my own experiences and from the experiences of others through approachable and candid conversations with the aim of educating and shaping your leadership journey.   Grody &amp; Unprofessional episodes will toggle between focused monologue on specific lessons or mindsets I have acquired from my experiences and conversations with other leaders seeking to understand their convictions and strategies for inspiring, motivating, and maybe sometimes cajoling a group into action.   Grody &amp; Unprofessional is not a memoir, it’s not a forum to gripe or complain about the past or present.  The rules are simple, I aim to convey leadership lessons through storytelling.  If a given story has a hero, we will use proper names, if the story has a villain, a dolt, or if there is the potential for embarrassment, proper names will be removed.  While we do NOT aim to embarrass people or organizations, we do intend to embarrass poor leadership behaviors and mindsets common to many leaders and organizations.    My experience has been that demand for talented leaders outstrips supply by at least tenfold, Grody &amp; Unprofessional is my feeble attempt to improve supply.   I hope you will join me as we seek to uncover people, product, and organizational leadership lessons through the musings of a corporate misfit and his friends.

Business

Management

Hello and welcome to Grody & UnPrOfEsSiOnAL, my name is Justin McMenamy, and my mission is to share both profitable and painful leadership lessons I have acquired over a twenty-year career as a misfit in corporate America. Like everyone, I have worked with and for hundreds of leaders across my career. While some leaders are great, and many are good, the vast majority find themselves tossed into leadership and left to figure it out on their own. Grody & Unprofessional seeks to share leadership stories harvested from my own experiences and from the experiences of others through approachable and candid conversations with the aim of educating and shaping your leadership journey. Grody & Unprofessional episodes will toggle between focused monologue on specific lessons or mindsets I have acquired from my experiences and conversations with other leaders seeking to understand their convictions and strategies for inspiring, motivating, and maybe sometimes cajoling a group into action. Grody & Unprofessional is not a memoir, it’s not a forum to gripe or complain about the past or present. The rules are simple, I aim to convey leadership lessons through storytelling. If a given story has a hero, we will use proper names, if the story has a villain, a dolt, or if there is the potential for embarrassment, proper names will be removed. While we do NOT aim to embarrass people or organizations, we do intend to embarrass poor leadership behaviors and mindsets common to many leaders and organizations. My experience has been that demand for talented leaders outstrips supply by at least tenfold, Grody & Unprofessional is my feeble attempt to improve supply. I hope you will join me as we seek to uncover people, product, and organizational leadership lessons through the musings of a corporate misfit and his friends.

Hello and welcome to Grody &amp; UnPrOfEsSiOnAL, my name is Justin McMenamy, and my mission is to share both profitable and painful leadership lessons I have acquired over a twenty-year career as a misfit in corporate America.&nbsp; &nbsp; Like everyone, I have worked with and for hundreds of leaders across my career. While some leaders are great, and many are good, the vast majority find themselves tossed into leadership and left to figure it out on their own.&nbsp; Grody &amp; Unprofessional seeks to share leadership stories harvested from my own experiences and from the experiences of others through approachable and candid conversations with the aim of educating and shaping your leadership journey. &nbsp; Grody &amp; Unprofessional episodes will toggle between focused monologue on specific lessons or mindsets I have acquired from my experiences and conversations with other leaders seeking to understand their convictions and strategies for inspiring, motivating, and maybe sometimes cajoling a group into action. &nbsp; Grody &amp; Unprofessional is not a memoir, it’s not a forum to gripe or complain about the past or present.&nbsp; The rules are simple, I aim to convey leadership lessons through storytelling. &nbsp;If a given story has a hero, we will use proper names, if the story has a villain, a dolt, or if there is the potential for embarrassment, proper names will be removed.&nbsp; While we do NOT aim to embarrass people or organizations, we do intend to embarrass poor leadership behaviors and mindsets common to many leaders and organizations.&nbsp; &nbsp; My experience has been that demand for talented leaders outstrips supply by at least tenfold, Grody &amp; Unprofessional is my feeble attempt to improve supply. &nbsp; I hope you will join me as we seek to uncover people, product, and organizational leadership lessons through the musings of a corporate misfit and his friends.

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Building Empathy w. Erin Thorp

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