Even difficult conversations are easier and more productive when you use story telling and images.
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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One step beyond feeling empathy is tactical empathy, or what some people call, validation. Tactical empathy is the act of letting another person know you see them, you hear them, you understand them. To be effective, validation has to resonate with the other person as if they said it themselves. The easiest way to do this is to mirror what they said, or copy it. Hearing their own thoughts from another person’s mouth is a powerful experience. This is a…
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Empathy vs sympathy: they sound alike but they are quite different. We feel sympathy for someone and, in contrast, we feel empathy with someone, that’s the difference between empathy vs sympathy. Feeling sympathy for someone implies a certain distance. It’s more like feeling pity for someone. They are feeling something that you are not. They are struggling, and you are not. When you empathize with someone, you feel what they are feeling. So rather than distancing, it is bonding.…
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Visibility at work isn’t about self-promotion; it’s about connection. Without visibility at work, even your best work can go unnoticed. Career visibility is how people know what you contribute, how you collaborate, and the value you bring to the team. Visibility at Work I can’t count the number of times I’ve gone to a work event with my husband where no one said a word to me all night except hello and goodbye. His industry is completely separate from mine,…
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Think about it: how hard would you work if your boss didn’t understand or care about you? That’s the power of empathy at work. Key Takeaways Just like you, everyone wants to be seen and accepted for who they are and the talents they bring. It’s a fact: empathy is a universal human need. When managers fill a team’s need for empathy, people want to do better. When people feel empathy at work, trust rises, new ideas surface, and teams…
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Everyone wants influence at work, whether it’s with their boss, their team, or colleagues across the organization. The question is: what’s the best way to earn it? Influence is a subtle art. Sometimes even when you have the best advice, pushing too hard can backfire. In this post, I’ll explain what influence really is, how it works, and why it so often goes wrong. What Influence Is Influence at work is about advocating for an idea—not issuing a command. Many…
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