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Leadership resources hub with practical tips for trust, confidence, empathy, team alignment, and decision making

Start Here for Leadership Resources: Practical Tips and Solutions to Use Now

October 1, 2025
Confidence at Work, Decision Making, Empathy in Leadership, Team Alignment & 1:1s, Trust at Work

Welcome! My blog offers for practical leadership resources to help you build stronger, more productive, and more resilient teams. Leadership is not innate. It’s a set of skills that, practiced daily, promote cooperative, steady focus on what matters most. Anyone can learn these skills with dedication and practice, even if you don’t hire a coach. These skills help good leaders diagnose and tamp down distractions. Using tactics that support these skills, they build a positive team culture where everyone feels…

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Empathy validation compassion for My Gratitude Project

Empathy That Saves Lives: Lessons from Chris Voss | My Gratitude Project Day 18

November 18, 2025
Gratitude Project

Today I’m sharing another book about empathy that saves lives and that has deepened my gratitude for empathy. Empathy that saves lives? Yes, this is a book about how empathy, or the lack of it, results in life or death. The title is Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as If Your Life Depends on It, by Chris Voss. This is another personal and practical book, this time by a former FBI terrorist negotiator. Voss details his own journey to learn…

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practice self compassion for My Gratitude Project

How Caroline Fleck’s Book “Validation” Deepened My Gratitude for Empathy | My Gratitude Project Day 17

November 17, 2025
Gratitude Project

This is a post of gratitude for Caroline Fleck’s book, “Validation,” a must-read for anyone who wants better relationships in life. Why am I talking about empathy? After all, this is My Gratitude Project. But I am truly grateful for some recent books on epathy that have called my attention to its power and uses. So much so, that I want to share my reading with you. Here is the first book I want to recommend: Validation: How the Skill…

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empathy is non judgment for my gratitude project

The Psychology of Empathy: Why Acceptance Heals | My Gratitude Project Day 16

November 17, 2025
Gratitude Project

The psychology of empathy is the science behind empathy. It works in everyday life and also in extraordinary moments. What exactly is the psychology of empathy? Psychologists have been studying empathy for decades. They are in the business of helping people change, and they are academically minded. So, psychology has been an invaluable source of data on what works to help people change. I’m deeply grateful for the brilliant researchers who have studied empathy and alerted us to its power.…

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Empathy validation compassion for My Gratitude Project

Cognitive Bias and Empathy: Seeing the World Clearly | My Gratitude Project Day 15

November 15, 2025
Gratitude Project

What gets in the way of empathy and change? Mostly it’s what psychologists call cognitive bias. Cognitive biases are unconscious and irrational brain processes that literally distort the way we see the world. Psychologists have identified over 180 cognitive biases that skew how we perceive and remember events in the past and influence how hard we are willing to try or resist change in the future. Here are a few of the biases that come up a lot at work:…

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empathy is non judgment for my gratitude project

Empathy and Body Language: Listening Without Words | My Gratitude Project Day 14

November 14, 2025
Gratitude Project

Sometimes we forget to pay attention to empathy and body language: the loudest clues that have no sound at all. Let’s take a moment to talk about empathy and body language. Our bodies are always talking, signaling how we really feel. Regardless of what our words say, our bodies give us away. Unless you are a professional poker player or actor, you probably don’t think about or control how your face and body posture broadcast your feelings to the world.…

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Try empathy kindness compassion for My Gratitude Project

Empathy Is a Gift: The Healing Power of Listening | My Gratitude Project Day 13

November 13, 2025
Gratitude Project

When empathy is a gift, friendship and gratitude grow. I remember the day that I realized that empathy is a gift. It was over 5 years ago, shortly after my mother passed away. My best friend called me up and asked if I wanted to take a walk. Yes, I said gratefully. How I needed some fresh air! We walked for about an hour, and she almost didn’t say anything. She just let me talk. Losing a loved one brings…

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Lisa D. Foster, Ph.D. ACC  is an independent coach. As an Associate Certified Coach by the International Coaching Federation, Lisa honors and abides by the ICF Code of Ethics.  All coaching sessions and consultations are confidential.

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