Welcome to August Hot Takes! To celebrate the podcast’s 2nd anniversary, we’re shaking things up with some solo episodes from yours truly. I’m answering common questions attendees ask during my keynotes and trainings.
Will one empathy workshop fix our culture?
Empathy is like a marathon or any other skill you master over time. You need to train for it. Building up an empathy practice with a sustained curriculum and processes is the way to change behaviors. But you have to make systemic changes to reward and model empathy and show that “this is how we do things around here.”
Thanks for being here and enjoying the podcast. Would love to know what you think of this Hot Takes format.
To access this episode transcript, please scroll down below.
Key Takeaways:
- Empathy as a skill and as a culture is built over time with practice and engagement.
- Building an empathetic culture starts with your hiring process.
- Creating transformational change takes time and effort. It is not a one and done workshop.
“While one workshop is a great start, if empathy is lacking in your organization, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” — Maria Ross
Resources Mentioned:
I incorrectly attributed the “Empathy is the input, diversity and inclusion is the output” idea to podcast guest Mike O’Bryan. Mike O’Bryan: Narrative Intelligence. It was actually Rich Hua of Amazon talking about how he is starting an EQ revolution at Amazon. Apologies!
Ann Latham: The Power of Clarity
Maria’s empathy keynotes and workshops, Please email me to discuss your specific needs or if you’d like guidance to put together an effective curriculum!
Don’t forget to download your free guide! Discover The 5 Business Benefits of Empathy: http://red-slice.com/business-benefits-empathy
Connect with Maria:
Get the podcast and book: TheEmpathyEdge.com
Learn more about Maria’s brand strategy work and books: 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
Twitter: @redslice
Facebook: Red Slice
FULL TRANSCRIPT BELOW:
Hi, everyone, welcome to our final August hot take special format we’re doing this month just to celebrate the podcast second anniversary. We’re shaking things up and doing some solo episodes this month. Hope you’re enjoying them. I would love to hear your feedback. Good, bad or ugly. So let me know DM me at Red slice Maria. Let me know if you like these solo episodes. And if you want me to do more, if you want me to do one a month, if you want me to never do them again, let me know. I’m answering some common questions I get from attendees during my workshops and trainings from people who email me or message me through LinkedIn or DM me through Instagram. And I wanted to address this very important question. And I’m especially talking to larger organizations, but even organizations of 10 or 20 people organizations that tend to bring me in to do a Keynote or do an empathy training with either their leadership team or their entire company.
The question is, will one empathy workshop fix our culture? And I know you probably know what the answer is to this. But I wish it were that easy. I wish you could bring me in to do one virtual workshop or live workshop. I know it’s an amazing experience, and people love it. But it doesn’t mean all of your issues around retention, around engagement, around just playing how your people are interacting with and treating each other. It won’t make all of those issues magically disappear. If I could do that for you with one workshop, I’d be charging you a million dollars for it. But the truth is, while one workshop is a great start, because you are showing a commitment to your company, to your people, that this is important, and we need to talk about it. So, I don’t want to let that go by, we need to understand that if empathy is lacking in your organization, if that is a culture problem. It’s a marathon. It’s not a sprint. It’s just like any other skill that you have to master over time, you need to train for it. You need to build up that empathy practice with possibly a sustained curriculum that is ongoing that touches on other facets of emotional intelligence, and leadership, and high performing teams, and psychological safety. And all of the ancillary branches that come off of empathy, when we talk about improving our culture, and bringing more humanity back into the workplace. There are so many wonderful speakers, teachers, trainers, that talk about these different facets. And if this is something that your company is really committed to if you are committed to improving the culture, because you want to improve performance, you want to boost the bottom line, you want to build your brand and reputation and inspire crazy customer loyalty. Then I am happy to talk to you and help you build that curriculum of which my workshop is just one one component. I am happy to share the love and guide you on some other people and trainers and organizations that I know that are doing phenomenal work. And you know some of them that bring in leadership development, some of them that bring in boosting relationships at work, some of them that bring in obviously diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging to improving your culture of which empathy is an input to that I did a wonderful interview with Mike O’Brien about narrative intelligence. And he talked about the fact that empathy is an input and diversity and inclusion is an output when you boost empathy within your culture. So, you also have to do some heavy thinking and heavy analysis of your organization’s processes, your organization’s policies, your reward structures, your hiring practices, it’s got to be a full journey of how you’re going to create a more empathetic culture. And it starts with the hiring process, not only who you hire, but what is that process like for a new recruit? Is it empathetic? Is it inclusive? Are you communicating clearly with people? Are you getting back to them in a timely manner? Are you being respectful of their time, those are all actions that you take every day without thinking about them that either show or don’t show a culture of empathy. And I did another wonderful podcast episode with Anne Latham, who is the queen of clarity about the fact that clarity is empathetic. When you are very clear with people you are being respectful European kind, you’re being empathetic. So, you want to look at also the rewards structures in your organization. Talking about empathy is one thing. acting on it is another are people hired, fired, promoted, bonused, based on how they exhibit empathy in the organization? Have you sat down and said what are the actions that we are looking for that show we are being an empathetic organization? Are those actions being measured? Are they being acknowledged? Whether through group acknowledgment, email acknowledgement, rewards that you offer every year or every month? How are you promoting, modeling, acknowledging and rewarding empathy in your organization? And this also includes parting ways with people in the organization no matter how good they are at their job? Are they toxic rockstars? Are they people that flout the rules of empathy and respect? Do they treat people badly? Do they lead with fear? Are they not collaborative? Are they not communicative? Are they just plain difficult to work with in terms of people feeling like they are seen, heard and valued by those leaders or by those colleagues? Putting up with someone in the organization that erodes empathy is just as bad as not promoting empathy in your culture at all? So are you willing to take a stand and let go of someone who is causing disruption in the ranks, I have often talked about this and said, those, those toxic rockstars in your organization, if your company lives or dies, by them being part of the organization, you have a larger problem, if they’re the only ones that can make your organization successful, and you cannot bear to fire them or counsel them or do anything to adapt their behavior. Are you willing to deal with the consequences of the team environment that you create? Are you willing to deal with the, with the disengagement that that causes from all your other high performers? So many leaders I know, talk tough. And then when it comes to these difficult people, they just turn a blind eye, it’s just easier for them to not have a conflict with that person and let that person wreak havoc. So, you’ve got to look at things like your rewards. You’re like I said, your your policies, your processes, your hiring process, your your welcome process, how do you welcome new hires? Is that an empathetic experience for them? What is your customer experience like? Is it empathetic at every stage of the journey? So, creating a more empathetic culture is not unfortunately going to be solved by one dynamic workshop that I deliver for you, which again, I’m happy to do. But I would love if that was part of a larger curriculum and an ongoing effort to truly examine and evolve the other touchpoints within the organization that impact you having an empathetic culture.
So, are you willing to be in it for the long haul? Do you truly want to create transformational change in your culture? If so, call me, email me. Let’s build a curriculum together based on your goals. I know lots of other organizations that can help you. And even if my workshop is not a good fit for you, that’s totally cool. I’d rather help you transform your culture and create a thriving workplace for the people that are there. Whether you hire me to speak or not, that is part of my mission in this world. And it’s it’s my strong belief that you can do good with your business just by doing right by your people. Like you don’t have to be. You can sell software, you can sell widgets, you can sell things that maybe you’re like, that’s not really making the world a better place. Hopefully it is. Hopefully it’s making lives easier for people. And it solves a problem that people have. But one of the biggest ways that you can make an impact in the world is to create a workplace where the humans that come to work for you every day, can thrive and be their best selves, can treat each other with respect, can collaborate effectively can innovate, can think creatively, can face challenges they never thought themselves capable of facing. What a wonderful gift you are giving to the world, if you can create a workplace like that. That’s noble, that’s kind, that’s remembering that no matter what product or service your company or your business offers, it’s still run by people, people who have a motions, people who have dreams, people who have an innate human desire to be seen, heard and valued. So definitely give me a call. Let’s let’s kick things off with a really interactive and dynamic empathy workshops, empathy workshop for your leaders on how to strengthen their own empathy. We can do another workshop on you know how to create a more empathetic culture and how to create an empathetic brand. But like I said, I have so many resources to share with you of gifted thought leaders and experts who are much more expert in their domains. That will also augment your goal of creating a more empathetic, high performing innovative culture that wins in the marketplace. So I hope you will take me up on that. You can find me on LinkedIn as you know Maria J. Ross, or you can ping me on Instagram. I hope you are following me on Instagram Red slice Maria. And please make sure that you are signed up for my email list. I do not spam, I try to offer value, what someone wants called practical business insights with an inspirational chaser. If that sounds like your cup of tea, please join my email tribe. And you will never miss a podcast episode as well. So let me know your thoughts on this August hot tea. What is your company doing to create a more empathetic culture? What methods have you tried that maybe haven’t succeeded? What are you doing in terms of systemic changes in like I mentioned your reward your policies, your practices, your rituals, even to create a more empathetic customer experience and a customer culture and an empathetic internal culture. I would love to hear your highs and lows. I’d love to hear your successes. So, ping me again at Red slice Maria on Instagram or find me on LinkedIn. Those are the best ways to get in touch with me. And again, don’t forget to sign up for the email list. You can sign up at theempathyedge.com. Thank you so much for this fun August hot take journey. Again, I’d love to know what you think about the format and if you want me to continue to do some solo episodes, or do you prefer to hear other voices besides mine on the regular. Take care and until next time. Remember that cashflow? Creativity and compassion are not mutually exclusive. Take care and be kind.
