107 | Empathy & Compassion in Organisational Culture | Rob Volpe
09/16/22 • 36 min
On this episode of the Building Better Cultures podcast, we drill down on the pivotal role that empathy plays in the workplace – especially in this time of remote work and back-to-back-to-back Zoom interactions. It’s about understanding someone else’s perspective, yes. But equally important is the ability to fully and non-judgmentally inhabit another person’s shoes, then communicate back in ways that create meaningful connection.
Our guest Rob Volpe, CEO of Ignite 360, is an “empathy activist” who consults with businesses struggling to weave understanding and compassion into workplace cultures. With his Five Steps to Build + Apply Empathy at Work, Rob shows leaders how to integrate simple – but transformational – practices to embody your brand and build self-awareness among teams across the enterprise. Studies show that organisations that prioritise empathy generate more loyalty, innovation and inclusivity among employees. You’ll come away from this episode with a keen understanding of how to listen with full awareness as well as specific exercises to build your empathy muscle and invite authentic communication at every level of your business.
KEY INSIGHTS:
1. The Empathy Crisis: Many leaders find it difficult to connect with personal perspectives and are untrained in the art of leveraging the power of storytelling in the workplace.
2. Leaders who promote empathy in the workplace see significant increases in loyalty, innovation and inclusivity among team members.
3. There is a difference between emotional empathy and cognitive empathy – one that many old-school leaders don’t fully understand, resulting in unfounded fears about losing respect.
4. Rob’s Macro-Level Framework:
Bring self-awareness in deciding how to show up.
Have the courage to practice empathy.
Adopt The Five Steps, which require practice and inevitable stumbles.
Offer yourself grace and forgiveness.
5. Rob’s Five Steps to Empathy:
Dismantle judgment: Notice negativity and resist casting aspersion.
Reframe Questions: Skip “why” – with its negative, closed associations and undertones.
Listen Actively: Be present and use all your senses to take in what others are saying.
Integrate Understanding: Stay open to and curious about divergent points of view.
Use Solution Imagination: Take what you’ve heard to advance the conversation, closing the gap between knowledge and action.
>>> Rob’s Top Tip: Be courageous. Empathy is acquired one step at a time!
LINKS:
Company: https://www.ignite-360.com Book: https://www.5stepstoempathy.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmvolpe/
ABOUT SCOTT:
Learn more about Scott McInnes, your host and the Founder and Director of Inspiring Change, by clicking here.
ABOUT WORKVIVO:
If you’re struggling with communications in this time of new hybrid workplace conditions, click here to explore Workvivo, a collaboration platform that offers seamless digital integration.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider clicking here to rate and review it!
On this episode of the Building Better Cultures podcast, we drill down on the pivotal role that empathy plays in the workplace – especially in this time of remote work and back-to-back-to-back Zoom interactions. It’s about understanding someone else’s perspective, yes. But equally important is the ability to fully and non-judgmentally inhabit another person’s shoes, then communicate back in ways that create meaningful connection.
Our guest Rob Volpe, CEO of Ignite 360, is an “empathy activist” who consults with businesses struggling to weave understanding and compassion into workplace cultures. With his Five Steps to Build + Apply Empathy at Work, Rob shows leaders how to integrate simple – but transformational – practices to embody your brand and build self-awareness among teams across the enterprise. Studies show that organisations that prioritise empathy generate more loyalty, innovation and inclusivity among employees. You’ll come away from this episode with a keen understanding of how to listen with full awareness as well as specific exercises to build your empathy muscle and invite authentic communication at every level of your business.
KEY INSIGHTS:
1. The Empathy Crisis: Many leaders find it difficult to connect with personal perspectives and are untrained in the art of leveraging the power of storytelling in the workplace.
2. Leaders who promote empathy in the workplace see significant increases in loyalty, innovation and inclusivity among team members.
3. There is a difference between emotional empathy and cognitive empathy – one that many old-school leaders don’t fully understand, resulting in unfounded fears about losing respect.
4. Rob’s Macro-Level Framework:
Bring self-awareness in deciding how to show up.
Have the courage to practice empathy.
Adopt The Five Steps, which require practice and inevitable stumbles.
Offer yourself grace and forgiveness.
5. Rob’s Five Steps to Empathy:
Dismantle judgment: Notice negativity and resist casting aspersion.
Reframe Questions: Skip “why” – with its negative, closed associations and undertones.
Listen Actively: Be present and use all your senses to take in what others are saying.
Integrate Understanding: Stay open to and curious about divergent points of view.
Use Solution Imagination: Take what you’ve heard to advance the conversation, closing the gap between knowledge and action.
>>> Rob’s Top Tip: Be courageous. Empathy is acquired one step at a time!
LINKS:
Company: https://www.ignite-360.com Book: https://www.5stepstoempathy.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmvolpe/
ABOUT SCOTT:
Learn more about Scott McInnes, your host and the Founder and Director of Inspiring Change, by clicking here.
ABOUT WORKVIVO:
If you’re struggling with communications in this time of new hybrid workplace conditions, click here to explore Workvivo, a collaboration platform that offers seamless digital integration.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider clicking here to rate and review it!
Previous Episode
106 | Raw Leadership Principles; Curiosity, Authenticity & Vulnerability | Colleen Bashar
In this episode of the Building Better Cultures podcast, we learn about the principles of Raw Leadership, how to lean into your authentic power as a leader and how to create better organisational cultures that your employees want to participate in. Our guest is Colleen Bashar, is the Senior VP of Global Solution Sales for Guidewire Software; a cloud-based service that efficiently combines digital, core, analytics, and AI to deliver results to clients. Colleen walks us through her 16-year journey at the company, where she started as a sales consultant, to her current position as a people leader and how she effectively manages a team of over 150 people.
KEY INSIGHTS:
>>> What ‘Raw Leadership’ is, and its three core values: Curiosity, Authenticity and Vulnerability. >>> The importance of investing and reflecting on yourself as a leader to help you lean into your authentic self. >>> Why practicing self-awareness is incredibly powerful.
LINKS:
GuideWire LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/guidewire-software/ Colleen’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colleenscott/
ABOUT SCOTT: Learn more about Scott McInnes, your host and the Founder and Director of Inspiring Change, by clicking here.
ABOUT OUR SPONSOR - WORKVIVO: If you’re struggling with communications in this time of new hybrid workplace conditions, click here to explore Workvivo, a collaboration platform that offers seamless digital integration.
Next Episode
108 | The Science of Storytelling & How It Works | Richard Newman
Do you think storytelling has no place at work? That it’s just a fluffy exercise that doesn’t deliver results? Then, the latest guest on the Building Better Culture podcast, Richard Newman, the Founder and CEO of BodyTalk, says, “You’re missing the point!” Richard shares that for a millennia, the human brain has learned to sequence and process information delivered as a story, but HOW that story is told makes all the DIFFERENCE. We learn about the neuroscience behind effective communication to yield actionable results and fully engage your people. You’ll learn how to blast through denial, overcome the brain’s resistance to change and avoid “non-verbal leakage.” It transforms workplace cultures by delivering information in ways our brains can receive process, and act upon – with the kinds of epic outcomes your corporate leaders will doubtless remember. Heroic journeys start in small daily interactions, and Richard is here to share some of the tools most critical tools set that stage.
KEY INSIGHTS: >>> Focus on storytelling as a vehicle for connection.
>>> It’s critical to understand how the logical and emotional minds differ when it comes to interacting with information, depending on how its delivered.
>>> Stories that fail? They are stories that make you, your company, product or service the hero.
>>> Stories that succeed? Those that deliver a compelling hero’s journey through the eyes of the listeners – the recipients of your intended message.
>>> Non-Verbal Leakage: Body language, tone and words need to be in complete alignment. If they are incongruent, the effect is inauthentic and can generate distrust. Humans respond viscerally to energy and subtext.
>>> Start Small: The quickest way to break down resistance to storytelling in the workplace is to integrate it into every daily interaction. It’s not a heroic tale, but a framework to deliver information in ways that the brains of others can accept, process and act upon.
FURTHER RESOURCES: >>> "Thinking Fast and Slow," by Daniel Kahneman.
ABOUT RICHARD: Company: https://ukbodytalk.com/ Book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/191645920X Podcast: LIFT with Richard Newman LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardnewmanspeaks/
ABOUT SCOTT: Learn more about Scott McInnes, your host and the Founder and Director of Inspiring Change, by clicking here.
ABOUT WORKVIVO: If you’re struggling with communications in this time of new hybrid workplace conditions, click here to explore Workvivo, a collaboration platform that offers seamless digital integration.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider clicking here to rate and review it!
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