Jen Fisher is Marcel Schwantes’ guest this week on the Love In Action podcast. Jen is Chief Well-being Officer at Deloitte, where she evolved the health and wellness program into a first-of-its-kind holistic and inclusive well-being strategy. Jen empowers Deloitte's people to prioritize their well-being so they can be at their best in both their professional and personal lives. In her role, she drives the strategy and innovation around work, life, health, and wellness. Jen is the co-author of the bestselling book, Work Better Together: How to Cultivate Strong Relationships to Maximize Well-Being and Boost Bottom Lines. Jen shares her experience as a working employee going through chemotherapy and the valuable lesson she learned in those difficult times. “Why do we give ourselves permission to set boundaries when we're sick, but not when we're well?” [4:07]“We’ve adopted all this technology, but we haven’t adapted to it very well,” Jen claims. “In my own words, the technology is using us, not the other way around. ... It’s more about how we, as human beings, choose to use it in our lives that has a negative impact. Our society has become this ‘always on 24/7, constantly connected’ society.” [10:21]Skills like empathy, compassion, authenticity, and emotional intelligence are not “soft”; they’re essential. According to Jen, they play a key role in the future of work because they cannot be replicated by machines or AI. Instead of fearing that technology is going to put us out of work, we should be celebrating that we can focus on humanizing the workplace. [17:27]Marcel asks Jen what organizations can do to maximize their employees’ well-being, to decrease burnout, and increase engagement and productivity. “The area you want to get to is trusted teams, which value human connection, relationships, and individual well-being,” she responds. “You achieve that through creating a culture of psychological safety, where people feel like they can show up as their authentic selves and ask for what they need.” [23:45]Essential skills are the skill set of the future. They can and need to be learned, taught, and brought into organizations by leaders who are tuned into them. These organizations are the ones that will truly thrive, Jen comments. [31:32]“The mascot we assigned for trusted teams is a dolphin, so [my co-author and I] want everyone to be a dolphin,” Jen encourages. “Communication and relationships are really important to dolphins; they do things in packs but they're also really great individual performers; they hunt, and they take care of their kids, but they're also very playful in their spirit… Be a dolphin not just at the workplace, but also in your personal life.” [34:56]ResourcesJen Fisher on LinkedInWork Better Together: How to Cultivate Strong Relationships to Maximize Well-Being and Boost Bottom Lines.

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