Liz Fosslein and Mollie West Duffy join the show to talk about the inspiration behind their fantastic new book, No Hard Feelings, and how we understand and integrate our emotions at work. They share insights about how we can communicate successfully in today’s diverse global business environment, some practical tips to strengthen your team’s connection, and why your company may benefit from having a crying room.

 

Key Takeaways:

[4:43] Liz and Mollie met when Liz was going on platonic friend dates as she just arrived in NYC. Liz is an information designer and illustrator, and Mollie is an organizational designer.

[9:09] The more global and connected our organizations become, the more we need to understand that different cultures and locations process negative feedback and communication differently.

[13:26] In their new book No Hard Feelings, Liz and Mollie have created foundational guides and resources for strengthening social awareness and relationship management.

[16:44] We have five generations working together for the first time in history: Silent Generation, Boomers, GenX, Millennials, and GenZ. It is important to find the right balance and share our information across generations to help each other.

[24:37] Leadership does demand some level of extroversion, but the most powerful leaders we have come to know in society have the traits of an introvert. It is crucial to be open about your preferences if you need alone time or blocked off days for reflection.

[29:53] Sending agendas out before gives introverts time to process their thoughts ahead of time.

[33:17] Women receive much less specific feedback than men, and the small nuances of how we interact are still designed by men.

[39:23] Crying is not always sadness. It is a signal of caring, anger and even passion.

[43:29] We try and suppress our feeling of envy or jealousy when really that gives us great information on what we may really want.

[47:27] No Hard Feelings is meant to help others understand we are going to have an array of emotions and we can use them to bring out the best of us and others around us rather than pretending they don’t exist.

[48:59] Creating the space to have conversations and process emotions is extremely important.

Resources:

Purchase Bring Your Whole Self to Work and gain access to bonus material

Mike Robbins Website

Mike Robbins Podcast

Mike Robbins on Facebook

Mike Robbins on Twitter

Mike Robbins on Instagram

TED Radio Hour

No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work, by Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy

Six Illustrations That Show What It’s Like In An Introvert’s Head

Liz

Mollie

IDEO

Chip Conley

Gretchen Rubin