In today's episode of Courage to Advance, brought to you by SparkEffect, Kim Bohr and Tracy Wik, VP of Business Strategy at Harrison Assessments, challenge traditional approaches to workplace stress. Drawing from decades of behavioral data and leadership experience, they expose how burnout often stems from unconscious behavioral patterns rather than workload alone.

With 83% of U.S. workers suffering from workplace stress and 76% saying it affects their personal relationships, organizations continue investing in wellness programs and workload reduction—yet engagement and productivity still suffer. Why? They're treating symptoms, not causes.

Kim and Tracy demonstrate how our greatest strengths—whether being extraordinarily helpful, highly empathetic, or achievement-driven—can become our biggest derailers when overused. Drawing from Dr. Dan Harrison's research on leadership paradoxes, they reveal how balancing seemingly contradictory behaviors is essential for sustainable leadership success.

You'll discover:

• Why high performers unknowingly sabotage their effectiveness
• The critical difference between personality traits and behavioral tendencies
• Practical strategies for breaking the burnout cycle
• How to develop a more expansive leadership repertoire

Don't miss the special offer for listeners to access the Harrison Assessment tool, complete with a professional debrief. Additional resources, including a self-reflection guide, are available at CourageToAdvancePodcast.com.

To access the episode transcript, please search for the episode title at www.TheEmpathyEdge.com

"People don't work in aggregate. They work in moments, they work in conversations, they work in individual connections." - Tracy Wik, VP of Business Strategy

Episode References:

• Self-Defeating Behaviors that Kill Good Work: The Leadership Triangle by Dan Harrison, Pd.D.

• The Benefits of Employee Engagement: Gallop 10th-meta-analysis research

• Leadership Bermuda Triangle Assessment: 15 Warning Signs of Team Misalignment & Performance 

About Tracey Wik, VP of Business Strategy, Harrison Assessments: 

A disruptive talent management strategist, Tracy Wik transforms how executives view their workplaces and careers. With over two decades of experience, she sees beyond spreadsheets to unlock human potential, helping leaders reimagine what's possible. A recognized speaker on strategy, culture and women's entrepreneurship, Tracy developed innovative executive coaching programs to advance women into senior leadership roles and serves as a Founding Forty Board member of DePaul University's Women's Entrepreneurship Institute, the only research-based women's accelerator globally. Her mission: make executives love Monday mornings by turning workplaces from soul-crushing machines into engines of human possibility.

About SparkEffect

SparkEffect partners with organizations to unlock the full potential of their greatest asset: their people. Through their tailored assessments and expert coaching at every level, SparkEffect helps organizations manage change, sustain growth, and chart a path to a brighter future.

Go to sparkeffect.com/edge now and download your complimentary Professional and Organizational Alignment Review today.

Connect with Tracey Wik and Harrison Assessments:

Harrison Assessments: harrisonassessments.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/traceywik

Connect with Kim Bohr and SparkEffect:

SparkEffect: sparkeffect.com

Courage to Advance: sparkeffect.com/courage-to-advance-podcast

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/sparkeffect

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kimbohr 

Connect with Maria: 

Get the podcast: TheEmpathyEdge.com

Learn more about Maria: Red-Slice.com

Hire Maria to speak: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-Ross

Take my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with Empathy

LinkedIn: Maria Ross

Instagram: @redslicemaria

Facebook: Red Slice

Threads: @redslicemaria

Achieve radical success putting empathy into action with Businessolver. Techlology with heart, powered by people. https://www.businessolver.com/edge

Today, sports fans and high achievers, you're in for a treat! Empathy is not soft. It's not weak. Nothing thrills me more than when I can share examples of empathetic leadership that help win national championships or create winning sports dynasties. You may recall my example of Golden State Warriors coach, Steve Kerr, in my book, The Empathy Dilemma.

Emmy award-winning producer and sports broadcaster Jen Mueller shares how she's seen coaching and leadership styles evolve in the last few decades, how she conducts sideline interviews with athletes who may have either had the worst or best day of their careers, why empathy is not just showing up on a bad day, but encouraging and celebrating your team's best days, and why top athletes and performers crave clarity and feedback in order to get better. You'll get so many tips on how to deliver feedback, ask the right questions, and infuse joy and levity into your team for championship-level performance. 

To access the episode transcript, please search for the episode title at www.TheEmpathyEdge.com

Key Takeaways:

• We don’t need or want to be cruel in the name of candor. Candor and clarity are empathetic and can help everyone understand where they are at. 
• Prepare ahead so that you can be with your team in the moment. Consider: how do you give somebody permission to talk about their win and an easy way to share in that celebration with everybody else?
• You can lead a high-performance team, while still leaving room for emotion, feelings, and disappointment when things don’t go well. 

"We assume that everybody understands what winning and losing look like and they don't. When you are clear, now people can do their job to the highest level." —  Jen Mueller

References Mentioned: 

Welcome to Wrexham: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0D77Y5BMG 

From Our Partner:

SparkEffect partners with organizations to unlock the full potential of their greatest asset: their people. Through their tailored assessments and expert coaching at every level, SparkEffect helps organizations manage change, sustain growth, and chart a path to a brighter future.

Go to sparkeffect.com/edge now and download your complimentary Professional and Organizational Alignment Review today.

Jen Mueller: Producer, Broadcaster,  Founder, Talk Sporty to Me

Jen Mueller is an Emmy award-winning producer and sports broadcaster based in Seattle. A 24-year sports broadcasting veteran, she currently serves as the Seattle Seahawks radio sideline reporter and is a member of the Seattle Mariners television broadcast team on ROOT SPORTS. She was honored for her work in the industry in 2022 as the recipient of the Keith Jackson Media Excellence Award presented by the Seattle Sports Commission.

In addition to her work on the sidelines, Jen is an established business communication expert and the founder of Talk Sporty to Me.  She’s published three books that outline her approach to conversations and effective communication. She is also the executive producer, host and creator of “I Cook, You Measure” a cooking show on YouTube.

Connect with Jen:

Talk Sporty to Me: TalkSportytoMe.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jenmuellertalksporty

Instagram: instagram.com/talksportytome

Threads: threads.net/@talksportytome

Connect with Maria:

Get the podcast and book: TheEmpathyEdge.com

Learn more about Maria and her work: Red-Slice.com

Hire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-Ross

Take my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with Empathy

LinkedIn: Maria Ross

Instagram: @redslicemaria

X: @redslice

Facebook: Red Slice

Threads: @redslicemaria

Achieve radical success putting empathy into action with Businessolver. Techlology with heart, powered by people. https://www.businessolver.com/edge

No matter what side of the aisle you fall on - employee or leader - you may have uttered these words, "Why can't I just fix them?!" Building strong relationships either way is both an employee AND a leader responsibility because empathy must flow both ways. 

Today, I talk with Molly McGrath. She reveals some biases that leaders can break free from to be more effective, how to merge the perspectives of boss and employees to better understand each other, and you'll love her actionable tips and examples on how you can initiate healthy communication, build trust, and create a more positive and high-performing environment with less drama and more impact. We also talk about the importance of re-dating and re-committing with your employees on a regular basis! 

To access the episode transcript, please search for the episode title at www.TheEmpathyEdge.com

Key Takeaways:

• If we’re only hiring to the résumé, we are going to be missing out on a lot of the people skills that aren’t written down.
• Self-awareness and self-care are two of the key pillars of empathetic leadership. We have to get our own house in order to understand our blind spots, triggers, and strengths, and know what we're bringing into the conversation.
• The work of leading is spending time with your people. You need to understand how each of your team are hardwired.

"You have to re-date your employees and re-enroll (your employees) every single day." —  Molly McGrath

Episode References: 

• Empathy Edge Podcast: Daina Middleton: How to do Layoffs with HUmanity, Inclusion, and Compassion

From Our Partner:

SparkEffect partners with organizations to unlock the full potential of their greatest asset: their people. Through their tailored assessments and expert coaching at every level, SparkEffect helps organizations manage change, sustain growth, and chart a path to a brighter future.

Go to sparkeffect.com/edge now and download your complimentary Professional and Organizational Alignment Review today.

About Molly McGrath:

Molly McGrath is the Founder and CEO of Hiring & Empowering Solutions and the author of Amazon's top #1 Best Seller: Fix My Boss: The Simple Plan to Cultivate Respect, Risk Courageous Conversations, and Increase the Bottom Line. She is also host of the Hire and Empower podcast.

Molly is a thought leader with 27 years of experience in the CEO space. Since the late nineties, She has coached, consulted, and directed presidents and founders of national organizations and over 4,500 law firms in executive-level leadership, continuous improvement, and team empowerment initiatives to infiltrate new markets, leverage partner ecosystems, and produce profitability.

Molly has 27 years of specific skill set experience in legal marketing, fractional CEO roles, conversation intelligence coaching, team development & empowerment, intrapreneur talent acquisition, Kaizen leadership, root cause analysis, revenue mapping, and action-based project management.

Connect with Molly:

Hiring & Empowering Solutions: hiringandempowering.com

X: x.com/HireAndEmpower

Instagram: instagram.com/hiringandempowering

Fix My Boss: The Simple Plan to Cultivate Respect, Risk Courageous Conversations, and Increase the Bottom Line:  amazon.com/dp/1636801765

Hire and Empower With Molly McGrath podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1460184599

Connect with Maria:

Get the podcast and book: TheEmpathyEdge.com

Learn more about Maria and her work: Red-Slice.com

Hire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-Ross

Take my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with Empathy

LinkedIn: Maria Ross

Instagram: @redslicemaria

X: @redslice

Facebook: Red Slice

Threads: @redslicemaria

Achieve radical success putting empathy into action with Businessolver. Techlology with heart, powered by people. https://www.businessolver.com/edge

Transparency is a cornerstone of empathetic culture. And when it comes to the labor market, pay scales, and required skills, the more information you can get, the more confident you feel in making decisions- whether you're a hiring manager or a job seeker.

What do workers today want? What kind of benefits are the most appealing in competitive markets? How are others at this level getting compensated? Where is the best talent for our organization and what skills do they need?

Turns out data-based decision-making can actually be a very empathetic approach to being a more human-centered organization. 

My guest is Cary Sparrow and we discuss what the data show workers today want (and it's not all about pay!), the barriers to connecting the right talent with career opportunities, and the mindset getting in the way of organizations competing effectively for top talent. Cary shares his own empathetic leadership model in how he set up his team to support employees with broader life needs and how that resulted in finding great talent, keeping them, and making the company successful. Cary also offers practical next steps to help leaders navigate change and embrace what the data show they need to do to succeed in today's labor market.

To access the episode transcript, please search for the episode title at www.TheEmpathyEdge.com

Key Takeaways:

• What employees want has shifted significantly over the last few years, largely stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Transparency around pay is now an expectation from job seekers, even if your state does not require it.
• You have to have data on the workers in your market. What workers need in NYC or LA, is likely going to be different than those in much smaller towns. 
• People in untapped talent markets were able to participate in the workforce more during the pandemic when things were fully remote than ever before.

"Employees are much more interested in understanding what is available to them for benefits and working conditions, more than they have been in the past, compared to salaries." —  Cary Sparrow

Episode References: 

• The Empathy Edge Podcast Episodes:
• Rhonda George-Denniston: Why Betting on Your People Leads to Market Domination
• Jessica Swank: How Box Navigates the New World of Work
• Anna Litotta: Understanding Generational CODES

From Our Partner:

SparkEffect partners with organizations to unlock the full potential of their greatest asset: their people. Through their tailored assessments and expert coaching at every level, SparkEffect helps organizations manage change, sustain growth, and chart a path to a brighter future.

Go to sparkeffect.com/edge now and download your complimentary Professional and Organizational Alignment Review today.

About Cary Sparrow, Founder & CEO, Wagescape

Cary Sparrow helps HR professionals and consulting firms to predict the future of pay. He is also a former US Navy officer who served on several nuclear submarines. 35+ years (combined) of engineering, military, consulting, technology, and operations leadership in achieving organizational growth makes him a guest of value to HR leaders and other decision-makers wanting to navigate the labor market, in today's rapidly growing access to remote work and digital promptness. Here's his one-sheet: https://legendarypodcasts.com/cary-sparrow/ 

Connect with Cary:

WageScape: wagescape.com 

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/carysparrow 

Connect with Maria: 

Get the podcast and book: TheEmpathyEdge.com

Learn more about Maria and her work: Red-Slice.com

Hire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-Ross

Take my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with Empathy

LinkedIn: Maria Ross

Instagram: @redslicemaria

X: @redslice

Facebook: Red Slice

Threads: @redslicemaria

Achieve radical success putting empathy into action with Businessolver. Techlology with heart, powered by people. https://www.businessolver.com/edge

What makes a perfect candidate or even company? You know the one where when you meet them or visit their offices, where you just know they're something special? Is there a blueprint for how to be such a unicorn?

Today, William Vanderbloemen shares the 12 teachable traits you can master to be a unicorn candidate or company leader and we deep dive into four specific ones: Authenticity, Self-Awareness, Curiosity, and Connection - what those look like in action, and the data shows that anyone can master these skills with practice and intention, even if you think you're not good at them.  We discuss why these skills are anything but soft, and can actually catapult you to success. And William reveals the single biggest trait that helps you separate yourself from the crowd.

To access the episode transcript, please search for the episode title at www.TheEmpathyEdge.com

Key Takeaways:

• Every one of the 12 habits of unicorns can be learned. While some may seem more innate than others or may show up differently for different people, they are something everyone can learn.
• In uncertain times, the people asking questions will be able to adapt quicker than those who are not.
• We live in the best time ever to work on self-awareness. You can work on your own stuff, on any level, and it is no longer considered quackery as it used to be.

"After studying 30,000 face-to-face interviews, we discovered that what really separates somebody from the crowd is how they treat other human beings." —  William Vanderbloemen

Episode References: 

• The Empathy Edge podcast: April Hot Take: Why Empathy Starts with Self-Awareness
• Book: Be the Unicorn: 12 Data-Driven Habits that Separate the Best Leaders from the Rest: amazon.com/Be-Unicorn-Data-Driven-Separate-Leaders/dp/1400247101
• More book info and resources: www.TheUnicornBook.com
• Assessment model: www.VanderIndex.com

From Our Partner:

SparkEffect partners with organizations to unlock the full potential of their greatest asset: their people. Through their tailored assessments and expert coaching at every level, SparkEffect helps organizations manage change, sustain growth, and chart a path to a brighter future.

Go to sparkeffect.com/edge now and download your complimentary Professional and Organizational Alignment Review today.

About William Vanderbloemen, Founder & CEO, Vanderbloemen Search Group

William Vanderbloemen has been leading the Vanderbloemen Search Group for 15 years, where they are regularly retained to identify the best talent for teams, manage succession planning, and consult on all issues regarding teams. This year, Vanderbloemen will complete their 3,000th executive search. Prior to founding Vanderbloemen Search Group, William studied executive search under a mentor with 25+ years of executive search at the highest level. His learning taught him the very best corporate practices, including the search strategies used by the internationally known firm Russell Reynolds. Prior to that, William served as a Senior Pastor at one of the largest Presbyterian Churches in the United States.

Connect with William:

Vanderbloemen Search Group: vanderbloemen.com

X: x.com/wvanderbloemen

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/williamvanderbloemen

Facebook: facebook.com/vanderbloemen

Instagram: instagram.com/wvanderbloemen

Connect with Maria: 

Get the podcast and book: TheEmpathyEdge.com

Learn more about Maria and her work: Red-Slice.com

Hire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-Ross

Take my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with Empathy

LinkedIn: Maria Ross

Instagram: @redslicemaria

X: @redslice

Facebook: Red Slice

Threads: @redslicemaria

Achieve radical success putting empathy into action with Businessolver. Techlology with heart, powered by people. https://www.businessolver.com/edge

In this essential episode of "Courage to Advance," host Kim Bohr and global inclusion strategist Mason Donovan tackle a critical challenge facing today's leaders: maintaining organizational cohesion in an increasingly polarized world. Their timely conversation cuts through the noise to deliver practical wisdom on fostering productive workplaces where differences drive innovation rather than division.

Through real-world examples, Mason and Kim explore how thoughtful leadership can transform potential friction points into opportunities for organizational growth. Drawing from personal experience and extensive client work, they examine why some corporate inclusion initiatives soar while others stumble, offering senior leaders a strategic framework for making decisions that align with mission and market realities.

To access the episode transcript, please search for the episode title at www.TheEmpathyEdge.com

Key Takeaways:

• Inclusion is for the entire organization, no matter if you are in the majority or the minority group. It is more than just policy, it is operating with a lens of inclusion in every aspect of the organization.
• Everybody has to own inclusion. While leaders may have a greater impact, they cannot be the only ones carrying the inclusion bucket.
• Politics in the US have put almost everything, every cultural decision, in either the red or the blue. Think about those connections, think about what may be said to others by those decisions, then make a decision. 
• Hard, uncomfortable conversations will come up. Get ahead of them before they begin with policies and training.

"When you're a head of organization, everything that you do in public is a representative of that organization." —  Mason Donovan

From Our Partner:

SparkEffect partners with organizations to unlock the full potential of their greatest asset: their people. SparkEffect helps organizations manage change, sustain growth, and chart a path to a brighter future through their tailored assessments and expert coaching at every level.

Go to sparkeffect.com/edge now and download your complimentary Professional and Organizational Alignment Review today.

About Mason Donovan:

Founder/Consultant of The Dagoba Group 

Mason was Managing Director of Client Solutions for Personified, a human capital consulting firm, before becoming a principal for The Dagoba Group, a New England-based consultancy that specializes in leadership development in inclusion and diversity. He has over 20 years consulting clients in the areas of talent acquisition, performance management, and leading inclusive teams. Mason holds a long list of sales achievement awards for direct sales and sales management. He believes diversity and inclusion is a marketplace differentiator. Co-author of The Inclusion Dividend and SET for Inclusion. Author of the Golden Apple.

Connect with Mason:  

Website: thedagobagroup.com 

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/masondonovan 

Connect with Kim Bohr and SparkEffect

SparkEffect: sparkeffect.com

Courage to Advance recording and resources:

CourageToAdvancePodcast.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/sparkeffect

LinkedIn for Kim Bohr: linkedin.com/in/kimbohr

Connect with Maria: 

Get the podcast and book: TheEmpathyEdge.com

Learn more about Maria and her work: Red-Slice.com

Hire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-Ross

Take my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with Empathy

LinkedIn: Maria Ross

Instagram: @redslicemaria

X: @redslice

Facebook: Red Slice

Threads: @redslicemaria

Achieve radical success putting empathy into action with Businessolver. Techlology with heart, powered by people. https://www.businessolver.com/edge

Recently, we've heard a lot about resiliency, the ability to bounce back from challenge, and grit, that ability to grind away and never give up. But we've heard less about hardiness. It turns out hardiness enhances resilience, promotes personal and professional growth, and creates a more adaptive organizational culture.

Today, Dr. Steven Stein and I talk about hardiness and how it differs from both resilience and grit. He breaks down five key components of emotional intelligence and discusses how emotions impact our ability to make (or not make) good decisions. Dr. Stein offers the three C's of Hardiness and how to improve hardiness to create a more resilient, healthy, and adaptive culture that impacts your bottom line.

To access the episode transcript, please search for the episode title at www.TheEmpathyEdge.com

Key Takeaways:

• The concept of hardiness breaks down into the 3 Cs: commitment, challenge, and control.
• If your goal is overly ridged or too narrow, it can become detrimental and paralyzing. 
• Resilience and hardiness definitely overlap. Where the overlap is, we see continuous improvement and forward motion.
• When you balance emotionality with rationality, you can make better decisions, We call that wisdom.

"Hardiness means I can withstand the difficult situation and I can still deal with you (as a person), I can bring you along and make you stronger, and make the organization stronger." —  Dr. Steven Stein

From Our Partner:

SparkEffect partners with organizations to unlock the full potential of their greatest asset: their people. Through their tailored assessments and expert coaching at every level, SparkEffect helps organizations manage change, sustain growth, and chart a path to a brighter future.

Go to sparkeffect.com/edge now and download your complimentary Professional and Organizational Alignment Review today.

About Dr Steven Stein: Clinical psychologist, speaker, best-selling author of Emotional Intelligence for Dummies and Hardiness: Making Stress Work for You to Achieve Your Life Goals

Dr. Steven Stein is a world-renowned clinical psychologist, international best-selling author and sought-after speaker, and founder and Executive Chair of Multi-Health Systems (MHS), a publisher of scientifically validated assessments for over 40 years, which has been named a three-time winner of Profit 100 (fastest growing companies in Canada), one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies since 2013, and Canada’s 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures (2016, Waterstone).

A leading expert on psychological assessment and emotional intelligence, he has consulted with military and government agencies, including the Canadian Forces, U.S. Air Force, Army, Navy, special units of the Pentagon, FBI Academy, as well as corporate organizations, including American Express, Air Canada, Canyon Ranch, Coca-Cola (Mexico), and professional sports teams.

Dr. Stein consults with numerous reality TV shows, including Big Brother Canada, The Amazing Race Canada, MasterChef Canada, Bachelor Canada, Real Housewives of Toronto, Bachelor in Paradise, Blown Away, and many others, providing psychological expertise and candidate selection assessments.

Connect with Dr. Steven Stein 

Multi-Health Systems (MHS): mhs.com 

Personal Website: stevenstein.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/drstevenstein

Book: Emotional Intelligence for Dummies

Book: Hardiness: Making Stress Work for You to Achieve Your Life Goals

Connect with Maria: 

Get the podcast and book: TheEmpathyEdge.com

Learn more about Maria and her work: Red-Slice.com

Hire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-Ross

Take my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with Empathy

LinkedIn: Maria Ross

Instagram: @redslicemaria

X: @redslice

Facebook: Red Slice

Threads: @redslicemaria

Today, I want to talk about something that’s been heavy on my heart: the importance of holding onto Real History as it’s unfolding, not just to understand today but to avoid repeating mistakes tomorrow. 

Lately, I have felt anxious about the world we’re building and the future we’re leaving for our kids. When I look at what’s happening, I can’t help but think about the role models I want my son to emulate. It’s not just about those leaders at the highest levels. We can be leaders even if we don't have the title. It’s about us, each of us, stepping up, being those role models, and showing that we can lead with both empathy and strength.

Let’s keep leading with empathy. 

To access the episode transcript, please search for the episode title at www.TheEmpathyEdge.com

Key Takeaways:

• The best leaders have the humility to recognize their flaws and understand that the best, most effective decisions come from inviting expert voices that aren’t their own so they can get a clearer picture of both risks and opportunities.
• Use the upcoming leadership of the US to teach your children what kind of leader not to be.
• Kindness, inclusion, and integrity are qualities worth pursuing—not just in others, but in ourselves.

"We can be leaders if we don't have the title but some people, even if promoted to the title, even if elected to the title, will never be true leaders.." —  Maria Ross

From Our Partner:

SparkEffect partners with organizations to unlock the full potential of their greatest asset: their people. SparkEffect helps organizations manage change, sustain growth, and chart a path to a brighter future through their tailored assessments and expert coaching at every level.

Go to sparkeffect.com/edge now and download your complimentary Professional and Organizational Alignment Review today.

Connect with Maria: 

Get the podcast and book: TheEmpathyEdge.com

Learn more about Maria and her work: Red-Slice.com

Hire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-Ross

Take my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with Empathy

LinkedIn: Maria Ross

Instagram: @redslicemaria

X: @redslice

Facebook: Red Slice

Threads: @redslicemaria

Achieve radical success putting empathy into action with Businessolver. Techlology with heart, powered by people. https://www.businessolver.com/edge

We prep ourselves for so many challenging conversations, whether asking for a raise, delivering a tough performance review, asking for more budget, or even debating a political issue as if we're going to war. We brace for the confrontation. That puts us in a really unhelpful place to have true connection and conversation - and that just intensifies the misunderstanding and animosity with no helpful outcome. 

But there's a way out of this cycle. And woo boy! I clicked instantly with today's guest and I know you will, too. Today, Justin shares a very personal story about his trip back to Ghana to confront his absent father and how he changed the conversation following his own 5 pillars to bridge the divide. We also discuss how to practice conversational receptiveness, and how to avoid the dotted line dilemma and the illusion of asymmetric insights which both hinder meaningful engagements with those we don't see eye-to-eye with. Justin also unpacks actionable ways to have better conversations and cultivate curiosity through the Power of 3 Questioning module.

To access the episode transcript, please search for the episode title at www.TheEmpathyEdge.com

Key Takeaways:

• Plant the seeds with your kids of how to value humanity from a young age. Take them to places and events that will help them see more of the world and humanity.
• Be transparent when you are working on your leadership and changing conversations. Bring your team in, make it fun and light, and have one meaningful conversation per week.
• Just because it feels uncomfortable to learn about others and practice The Power of 3 Questioning. It doesn’t mean it isn’t working and strengthening your listening muscles.

"People are talking about things that are important to them. The question is, are we really listening?" —  Justin Jones-Fosu

Episode References: 

• Justin's book: I Respectfully Disagree: How to Have Difficult Conversations in A Divided World
• The Empathy Edge podcast: Michael Bach: What Exclusion is Costing Your Company
• Book: Dialogue: The Art of Thinking Together by William Isaacs

From Our Partner:

SparkEffect partners with organizations to unlock the full potential of their greatest asset: their people. Through their tailored assessments and expert coaching at every level, SparkEffect helps organizations manage change, sustain growth, and chart a path to a brighter future.

Go to sparkeffect.com/edge and download your complimentary Professional and Organizational Alignment Review today.

About Justin Jones-Fosu, CEO, Work.Meaningful and Author, I Respectfully Disagree

Justin is a full-time dad-e who also happens to be an international speaker, a social entrepreneur, a critically acclaimed author, and a mountain climber (he recently conquered one of the famed 7 Summits). His passion for elevation extends beyond trekking, it’s mirrored in his work as the CEO of Work. Meaningful, a firm he founded in 2017 focused on workplace engagement and inclusion. He consults with, speaks to, and trains 10,000 to 20,000 people per year. He is a former radio host and former workplace contributor to NPR’s The Takeaway Justin's most recent book, I Respectfully Disagree, challenges the reader to focus on building bridges with people rather than barriers from them. He also wrote The Inclusive Mindset and Your Why Matters Now.

Connect with Justin Jones-Fosu:  

Work.Meaningful: workmeaningful.com 

X: x.com/iworkmeaningful 

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/iworkmeaningful 

Instagram: instagram.com/iworkmeaningful 

Connect with Maria: 

Get the podcast and book: TheEmpathyEdge.com

Learn more about Maria and her work: Red-Slice.com

Hire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-Ross

Take my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with Empathy

LinkedIn: Maria Ross

Instagram: @redslicemaria

X: @redslice

Facebook: Red Slice

Threads: @redslicemaria

Achieve radical success putting empathy into action with Businessolver. Techlology with heart, powered by people. https://www.businessolver.com/edge

One of the hardest jobs in business belongs to anyone with a C in their title. Today you’ll hear from Tina Kuhn and Neal Frick, co-authors and successful executives of global companies who have gone on this journey and had tremendous success.

We talk about the ROI of empathy from their own experience and what they have learned about embracing empathy as a strategic advantage. We discuss how fear and bias show up for executives and impact their decision-making. They share the rewards of being an empathetic leader, the best way to bring a leader on board to an empathy mindset, how to practice empathy when your large team is remote, and why simply being a "nice boss" without accountability can be super toxic.

To access the episode transcript, please search for the episode title at www.TheEmpathyEdge.com

Key Takeaways:

• Reactive leaders harm their organizations. Empathetic leaders advance organizations and the lives of those in the organizations.
• There’s a difference between being a nice boss and being an empathetic leader. Being “the nice boss” is actually one of the most toxic things in an organization, and that is not empathetic.
• Build in time for team building in remote environments. If you choose the right activities, you can create those connections.

"The way that I have found the most effective has been leading by example because pushing someone into a vulnerable space is the quickest way to be met with resistance." —  Neal Frick

References:

• The Empathy Edge podcast: Teri Schmidt: Empathy-Infused Team Building for Lasting Impact

From Our Partner:

SparkEffect partners with organizations to unlock the full potential of their greatest asset: their people. Through their tailored assessments and expert coaching at every level, SparkEffect helps organizations manage change, sustain growth, and chart a path to a brighter future.

Go to sparkeffect.com/edge now and download your complimentary Professional and Organizational Alignment Review today.

About Tina & Neal:

Tina Kuhn is an accomplished CEO spanning cybersecurity, commercial, and US government. 

She has extensive experience in organizational transformations, growth strategies and implementation, M&A due diligence and integration, financial improvements, process and risk management, operations management, business development, and proposal development.

Ms. Kuhn has served in a variety of executive leadership roles, including the President of Proximas Group, focused on integrating 6 companies and developing a growth strategy to take advantage of each company’s strengths. 

Neal Frick is the CEO of Avandra Consulting and most recently served as CEO of CyberCore Technologies, which was sold to HP. He's an author with more than twenty years of experience in organizational growth and leadership and has led successful initiatives around transformational change, strategic planning, and revenue, working with companies such as Boeing, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Lockheed Martin. His experiences have fueled his commitment to cultivating inclusive work cultures, where diversity and empathy are not just buzzwords but integral components of business ethos.

Connect with Tina & Neal:

The Lanzar Group: thelanzargroup.com

Tina's LinkedIn: Tina Kuhn

Neal's LinkedIn: Neal Frick

Medium Profile: medium.com/@TinaKuhn

Book: The E Suite: Empathetic Leadership for the Next Generation of Executives

tinakuhncommunication.com - The Manager's Communication ToolKit - Dealing with Difficult Personalities

Connect with Maria:

Get the podcast and book: TheEmpathyEdge.com

Learn more about Maria and her work: Red-Slice.com

Hire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-Ross

Take my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with Empathy

LinkedIn: Maria Ross

Instagram: @redslicemaria

X: @redslice

Facebook: Red Slice

Threads: @redslicemaria