Tag Archives: empathy

The Duality of High-Performing Teams

GUEST POST from David Burkus

High-performing teams are often perceived as having extraordinary talents and capabilities, but they are not that different from regular teams—at least in terms of composition. Research indicates that high-performing teams are not just about having exceptionally talented individuals. Instead, they excel in understanding how to collaborate effectively and harness the diverse talents within the team.

In other words, talent doesn’t make the team. The team makes the talent.

The foundational quality that turns everyday people into members of a high-performing team is common understanding, sometimes called shared understanding or collective intelligence. Common understanding encompasses a shared grasp of the team’s collective expertise, assigned tasks, personality differences, work preferences, strengths, and weaknesses. This understanding can be broken down into two crucial aspects for leaders: clarity and empathy.

In this article, we’ll outline the importance of common understanding and provide practical ways to build clarity and empathy on any team.

1. Clarity

Clarity within a team is about ensuring that every member comprehends their roles and responsibilities, tasks, and deadlines. When team members have a clear understanding of what is expected of them and their teammates, they are more engaged, more productive, and even more collaborative. Clarity also allows individuals to operate within their sweet spot of capabilities, avoiding boredom or feeling overwhelmed.

One activity that can establish and maintain clarity on a team is the regular huddle. A huddle is a short, sync-up session where team members answer questions like, “What did I just complete? What am I focused on next? What’s blocking my progress?” These questions help everyone stay aligned, distribute tasks, set deadlines, and offer support when needed. Huddles promote transparency and keep everyone accountable, making it easier to identify issues and slackers without micromanaging.

2. Empathy

Empathy within a team means understanding the perspectives, strengths, weaknesses, work preferences, and factors that influence each team member’s behavior. This deeper understanding leads to reduced conflicts and enhanced collaboration. Team members who empathize with one another can tailor their communication and actions to suit the needs and preferences of their colleagues.

A powerful tool for building empathy in a team is creating “Manuals of Me.” In this activity, each team member provides insights into themselves by answering four fill-in-the-blank questions: “I’m at my best when_____. I’m at my worst when_____. You can count on me to_____. What I need from you is_____.” These manuals shed light on individual characteristics, strengths, and preferences, helping team members understand each other better.

The Manuals of Me exercise is an invaluable tool for addressing conflicts and on-boarding new team members. By sharing these manuals with the entire team and discussing how they can adapt their behavior based on the information, a team can build empathy and trust.

Building common understanding through clarity and empathy is the foundation of high-performing teams. It fosters a sense of unity and shared purpose, helping team members leverage each other’s unique skills and talents to achieve common goals. By fostering clarity and empathy in your team, you can build a strong common understanding that drives collaboration, reduces conflict, and helps everyone do their best work ever.

Image credit: Pixabay

Originally published on DavidBurkus.com on October 16, 2023

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Allow Your Customers to Die with Dignity

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Allow Your Customers to Die with Dignity

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

I’m sorry for the somewhat morbid title, but I wanted to catch your attention. Here is a short version of the story that sets up this week’s Shepard Letter.

A friend shared that one of his in-laws passed away a few months ago. Afterward, the family tried several times to cancel a newspaper subscription, but the publisher’s customer service agent kept saying, “No.” The newspaper continued to be delivered every day. Even after the subscription expired at the end of the month, the paper continues to be delivered.

This isn’t the first time I’ve heard stories like this. Companies that charge their customers monthly or annually using a subscription model – this could include newspapers, magazines, software, utilities, and almost any type of product – should have processes in place to deal with a customer passing away or any other tragic or unusual scenario. They should make it easy for the family or whoever is managing the affairs. And, help them easily and empathetically close an account. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. All you have to do is a Google search, and you’ll find plenty of horror stories similar to my friend’s – and even far worse.

Shep Hyken Death Cartoon

Chewy.com is an online pet supply that operates a subscription model in which pet food, treats and many other items are shipped regularly. Known for amazing customer service, Chewy is a role model for handling the delicate situation of a customer who passes away. In this case, the customer is a pet. Yes, the pet owner is the paying customer, but their furry friend is the real recipient of Chewy’s products.

When a pet owner informs Chewy that their pet has passed away, the company not only makes it easy to cancel the subscription, but they also do it with style, class and empathy. They send bereaved pet owners flowers, cards and refunds for recent purchases. They also request that the pet owner donate any unopened pet food and treats to local pet shelters.

It’s obvious that Chewy has a process, and there is a protocol for handling delicate situations like these. Its people are properly trained in not just what to do but also what to say and how to say it.

It may be the death of a customer, or perhaps just someone going through a difficult or emotional time; we must have a process mapped for these situations. Our people must know how to properly manage these delicate experiences with:

Empathy
Sympathy
Care

Image Credits: Pexels, Shep Hyken

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3 Secrets To Good Teamwork

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3 Secrets To Good Teamwork

GUEST POST from David Burkus

Teams are how work gets done most of the time. In a knowledge work economy, up to 85% of an average employee’s time is spent in collaboration with other people—on one team or on multiple teams. And that makes effective collaboration and good teamwork a top tier skill. Whether you’re currently a leader or looking to become a leader, focusing on developing your teamwork skills—and the level of teamwork on your team—is one of the highest returns on effort you can experience.

In this article, we’ll outline three keys to good teamwork and offer a few practical ways to improve on each one.

1. Clarity

The first key to good teamwork is clarity. Teammates need a clear set of tasks and objectives, and also to be clear on the tasks others are focused on. They need to be able to depend on the team to deliver on commitments and be clear about how their deliverables fit into the larger whole. In addition, teams need clarity on each others knowledge, skills, abilities, strengths and weaknesses. They need to know who the subject matter expert is for any given task and who is still developing that skill in order to properly assign tasks…and to ask the right person for help from time to time.

There are a number of ways to establish clarity when beginning a project, but teams also need to be deliberate about maintaining clarity as the project rolls out and the fog of work sets in. One effective way to do that is through a “huddle”—a regular, and fast paced meeting where teammates gather and report on what they’ve completed, where their focus is now, and where they might need help. Overtime, this routine will help everyone know what’s happening, but also who is excelling at what tasks and how they can help each other.

2. Empathy

The second key to good teamwork is empathy. If clarity is about understanding the tasks, empathy is about understanding the people on the team. Teammates need to know about each other’s different work preferences, personalities, and routines. Without empathy, we tend to assume our teammates will think and act like us—and when they don’t it can create conflict and confusion. And the more diverse a team, the more important empathy becomes on the team.

There are a variety of ways to build empathy but one of the most effective is through crafting and revising a team charter—or ways of working, group norms, rules of the road, and a host of other names. The idea behind a team charter is to facilitate a conversation about all the taken-for-granted assumptions about collaboration the team may have—like proper email response time, reasons to call meetings, ways to make decisions, etc. As they discuss, the team arrives at a set of norms they can agree to and then they abide by those norms for a few months before revisiting and revising based on what was learned. Empathy isn’t created by having the document, but rather in the process of having all those discussions.

3. Safety

The third key to good teamwork is safety—as in psychological safety. The level of mutual trust and respect felt on a team has a massive effect on the team’s ability to perform. If teammates feel safe to speak up, share ideas, or admit failures than the quality of their conversations and collaboration improves dramatically. Without psychological safety teams struggle to achieve a growth mindset and to learn and grow—and that puts a ceiling on the performance they’ll experience.

One fast way to start building psychological safety on a team is to signal vulnerability by asking for feedback. This is especially effective for leaders who can send individual emails out to each teammate asking just two simple questions:

What’s something I do well I should do more of?
What’s something you wish I would stop doing?

Because every teammate will have different answers, leaders will need to synthesize all the answers before they can apply anything learned. But the very action of asking for such honest feedback will signal to the team that their leader wants transparency. Over time that transparency will grow the feeling of psychological safety—especially once the team sees their feedback being applied.

And once psychological safety on the team grows, it will be easier to grow empathy as well. And when safety and empathy are high, teammates give more honest status updates in their huddles and clarity grows as well. As all three of these keys to good teamwork grow, the team’s performance will grow, because the team will become a place where everyone feels like they can do their best work ever.

Image credit: Pexels

Originally published at https://davidburkus.com on April 3, 2023.

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Getting Through Grief Consciously

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Getting Through Grief Consciously

GUEST POST from Tullio Siragusa

Life brings opportunities, happiness, and skyrocketing success when we decide to live it fully and without fear. Along with that, we will face challenging times that will cause us to grieve.

Globally, we are all facing a form of grief right now. Be it the loss of a loved one to Covid-19, or the loss of our free way of life — grief is all around us. Before this pandemic that we are experiencing collectively, you may have suffered the loss of loved ones for other reasons, or you may have gone through a divorce, a breakup, the loss of a friendship, or the loss of a pet.

There are many forms of loss. You can experience loss of money, your job, reputation, your faith, health, and even loss of hope.

“Loss is a normal part of life and grief is part of the healing process if we learn to face it with grace.”

To get through grief with grace it’s ideal to face it with the help of others, but for the most part you have to get through it alone. We are privileged to have family, friends, spiritual direction, therapists, life coaches and other support groups around us, but healing grief is essentially between you and yourself.

“In time of grief you need to embrace yourself, love yourself and cure yourself.”

It is easier said than done, but there is truly no other way around grief than to face it fully on your own, courageously, vulnerability and with grace.

Importance of Grace

We all, at some point in our lives, have felt as if we reached our breaking point, but eventually we wake up to the desire to not be broken for rest of our lives. For instance, while going through hard times we are not always acting our best selves. Harsh words are often exchanged with others out of the need to “dump the pain” on someone else to feel some sense of relief. After doing that, we often feel guilty about it and apologize.

It is not bad to apologize, but losing your temper and saying things you normally would not say can not only tarnish your image, but can scar someone badly enough that you lose their trust for a long time, and sometimes forever.

“When you manage your emotions while grieving, you hold on to grace, and grace is the energy of mercy for yourself and others.”

Our personality gets groomed with every pain we overcome. If we walk through life’s journey with a mindset that everything happens for a reason, and everything happens to teach us something new, then every challenging time becomes an opportunity to add strong positive and graceful traits to our personality.

The people who learn to manage their emotions during the toughest times without falling apart, add an unprecedented trait of composure, grace and an emotionally intelligent personality.

How to Get Through Grief with Grace

First, you need to fully acknowledge that grief is normal. It is not a disease. It is not a sign of weakness, or lack of emotional intelligence.

Our human body and mind is built to respond to situations. When we lose something, or someone precious, grief comes knocking. Trying to avoid that grief is not the right way to get over it. The best way to deal with grief is to embrace it and get through it.

One of my spiritual teachers used to say: “The only way to get to the other side of hell, is one more step deeper into it, that is where the exit door is waiting for you.”

“In order to grieve with grace, we need the courage to face loss as normal as anything else we experience in life.”

I know people who have avoided facing the loss of their loved ones for years, but ultimately, they had to go through it and face it. Grief will come for you no matter what, so why postpone it?

The foremost thing to handle any tough situation is to develop gratitude for all those blessed situations in your life that make it beautiful. No doubt, feeling gratitude while grieving is almost impossible, but if you develop a habit of being grateful on a daily basis, it becomes possible to feel it even during tough times.

If you are going through grief, find a peaceful place away from all those people reminding you of the loss, and try to connect to any happy moment you can recall. Feel that moment in your heart. Hold on to that feeling as long as possible and write it down later.

Whenever you feel broken, be mindful of such moments. You will soon be able to tap to a comparatively happy person inside you, anytime you need to.

“The way to develop your grace muscle is to live daily with gratitude and make a mental library of the happy moments in your life that you can borrow against, during difficult times.”

We have been living in a time in history void of pain. We are constantly seeking happiness and running from pain and suffering. Now we are being forced to face pain, suffering, uncertainty, and loss.

There are blessings inherent within loss and suffering. The blessings are always revealed on the other side of grief, and it is always hard to believe that the blessing is happening amidst grief and pain. However, if you look back in your life at the moments that defined you, the moments when you experienced the most Light, the most blessings — it was soon after your darkest hours.

“When we move through the process of grief believing in our ability to grow from the experience, we become more aware of the blessings in disguise that will come out of it.”

A sense of serenity can be achieved through releasing the pressure of the expectations of a set pattern for your life. There comes a moment when it is better to embrace what you can’t change, and develop the courage to strive for what you can.

“Acknowledging your capacities and the difference between what you can and what you can’t control, will make it easier to go through grief.”

What I am talking about is the power of surrendering to what is, instead of holding on to what could have been. For most people, grace is among the most precious trait of their personality and behavior.

If you have lost something or someone precious that is an irreparable loss, it is important to take care of yourself during those testing times. Remember that all chaos comes with an expiration date, and to surrender to the change you need to make to keep moving forward.

Remember the blessings in your life, be grateful for what is, has been, and will be, and be patient with yourself.

NOTE: For all those who have lost loved ones during the Covid-19 pandemic and have not been able to properly say goodbye, I wish that their memory be a blessing in your life.

Image credit: Pexels

Originally published at tulliosiragusa.com on April 27, 2020

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Avoiding An Unamazing Customer Experience

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Avoiding An Unamazing Customer Experience

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

NICE isn’t just the right way to treat people. It’s the name of a software company that specializes in helping businesses improve their customer and agent experience. NICE has analyzed billions of customer interactions to better understand customer behavior. They know what customers like and dislike. They know what frustrates customer support agents and what gets them excited about helping their customers. But often, it’s not an agent experience that gets customers to come back.

A recent study from NICE found that 81% of consumers today start with a digital channel when they have a question, a need or want to buy something. They don’t call the company. They go to a website, YouTube, Google search, etc. They want and expect the companies and brands they do business with to have answers readily available. What they don’t want is to call a company, be placed on hold for what seems like an unreasonable period of time, talk to a rep who transfers them to another rep, etc., etc.

I recently interviewed Laura Bassett, Vice President of Product Marketing at NICE, and had a fascinating conversation about how customers’ expectations are changing. She said many experiences are unamazing. They simply disappoint, which doesn’t give a customer the incentive to come back for more. Bassett said NICE’s mission is to rid the world of unamazing customer experiences. Here are some of the nuggets of wisdom Bassett shared on how to do exactly that.

1. Customer experience is the entire journey.

Many people make the mistake of thinking that customer experience is customer support. It’s much more than that. While customer support is part of the experience, it really starts when a customer initiates a Google search, finds your company and interacts with your website. The service begins with how easy it is to do business with you regardless of where they are in the customer journey.

2. Customer experience involves every person in the business.

Just as customer experience includes the customer’s entire journey—not just when they reach out for customer support—it also involves every employee. If you aren’t dealing directly with a customer, you support someone who is or is part of the process that will impact the experience. Even people behind the scenes, who never interact with the customer, have impact on the experience. Everyone must understand their role and contribution to the customer experience.

3. Proactive communication is essential to the customer experience.

Companies know many of the questions that customers ask. So, why not be proactive about giving customers information before they have to make the effort to get answers? Bassett said, “Companies should understand and predict when they can answer a question before customers even realize they have it.”

4. Walk in your customer’s shoes.

This is an old expression, yet its meaning is timeless. You must understand what the customer is going through at every step of the journey. Then compare it to the experience you would want. When designing an experience that makes customers want to come back, think about what would make you come back. Is the experience your customers receive different than what you want?

5. Agents are consumers too.

Their expectations have accelerated. They compare what they should be able to deliver to what they experience with other businesses. When they have an amazing experience with another company, they want to repeat that experience for their own customers. They must be equipped with the tools to deliver what they consider to be an amazing experience.

6. Make your customer support agents knowledgeable.

This is a great follow-up to No. 5. Help them understand that they don’t have to follow a script when it is unnecessary. They don’t want to feel held back. They don’t want to feel over-managed or under-enabled. After you hire good people and train them well, you should empower them to do their job. Bassett said, “Turn agents into customer service executives who can really own that experience.”

7. Amazing customer service doesn’t need to have fireworks.

Seamless and simple wins every time. This is the perfect concept to close out this article. Nothing shared in this article is rocket science. It’s common sense. It’s what every customer wants. To be amazing, you don’t have to go over the top and WOW the customer with the most incredible service they have ever experienced. Delivering the simple and seamless actually creates the WOW factor so many businesses believe is unattainable. Just be easy. Eliminate friction. Easy and seamless isn’t that hard—and for customers, it’s the opposite of unamazing!

This article originally appeared on Forbes

Image Credit: Shep Hyken

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Empathy: The Currency of Human Connection and Innovation

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Empathy: The Currency of Human Connection and Innovation

GUEST POST from Soren Kaplan

Having worked with innovation teams from global companies like Visa, Colgate-Palmolive, Kimberly-Clark, Disney, Medtronic and many others, there’s one consistent success factor when it comes to innovation, no matter what you’re doing: it all starts with the customer.

Companies spend oodles of time and money trying to understand customers. They conduct surveys, hire market researchers, run focus groups, analyze social media, and the list goes on. What’s often missed, however, are customers’ deeper needs and underlying pain points that really matter to them. Quantitative surveys, for example, might give you a sense of a market’s overall sentiment about a topic, but you won’t get to know someone’s personal struggles and underlying motivations from checkboxes on an online form.

Instead, you need to truly put yourself in the customer’s shoes. It’s not just about intellectually understanding their situation. It’s about tapping into the emotions they feel, and even feeling them yourself as part of the process of connecting to their experience.

Empathy Reveals New Opportunities

I recently led a leadership development program for a large health care provider with hundreds of hospitals. They wanted to understand their patients better, so they could come up with innovations to help them stay healthy and avoid costly visits to the doctor and hospital. Initially, the team had ideas to provide promotional materials on how to eat healthier and exercise.

As part of the process, a small team went to visit patients at their homes in rural areas. At one house, they discovered a giant water tank had been built by a company that towered over their patient’s home–and it was slowly dripping water on the roof, creating a whole variety of problems, including causing the beginnings of respiratory issues for the woman living in the house due to mold. The team was shocked.

The team realized that pamphlets about healthy eating and exercise wouldn’t do much to help. They also recognized that in certain cases they might need to provide radically different types of support to their patients as part of ensuring their overall health, beyond just providing traditional health care. They helped the woman contact the water tank company to fix the leak. They have also since expanded their approach around prevention to address various “social determinants of health” in communities like poor quality water, lack of healthy food, and other issues that lead to health issues long before someone shows symptoms of a formal medical issue.

Immersing yourself in the world of your customers through visits, observation, interviews, and other interactions can provide a new perspective around issues, problems, and assumptions.

Capture Concrete Observations

Empathy is a core element of “design thinking,” a common approach used for product and service innovation. It’s also a concept that can be hard to understand when it comes to translating what you might see and hear into something meaningful about the customer. Here’s a template for doing just that from Praxie.com.

Customer Empathy Map

The next time you connect with a customer, consider the following to help capture concrete observations:

Say: What does the customer explicitly say?
Feel: What are the customer’s emotions?
Think: What occupies the customer’s thoughts?
Do: What does the customer do in public?

By providing a structure for cataloguing your observations, you can turn what might seem as ambiguous into something tangible.

Turn Observations into Insight

It’s one thing to observe customers. It’s another to translate what you observe into real insights that help catalyze new ideas.

Once you’ve cataloged your observations, take a step back. Consider the ultimate “pain points” that your customer experiences. What are the customer’s top problems or frustrations? Also be sure to consider the “gain” the customer hopes to achieve. What does the customer hope to accomplish or achieve?

Answering these questions helps move general observations into insights that can be used as the basis for generating new ideas.

Give the World Your Empathy

Empathy is the currency of human connection. We all crave it. And when we give it to others, we build and deepen relationships. Try empathizing with others. You’ll see the returns in the form of a better world, and greater innovation.

Image credits: Praxie.com, Pexels

This article was originally published on Inc.com and has been syndicated for this blog.

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Importance and Ethos of Empathy in Business

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Importance and Ethos of Empathy in Business

GUEST POST from Douglas Ferguson

Why is empathy important in business? The reality is that though empathy focuses on identifying others’ emotions and connecting with your team in the workplace, true empathy has powerful results for every facet of an organization.

Organizational Ethos: Why is Empathy Important in Business?

Empathy makes it possible to center each other’s needs, desires, and emotions at the heart of what you do. From navigating your intuition to working to identify and meet the needs of clients, workplace empathy is essential to effective leadership and future success.

Below, we explore why is empathy important in business as we discuss:

Empathy in the Workplace
Empathy as Empowerment
The Ethos of Empathy
Why Empathy is Important for Business
Applications of Organizational Empathy

Empathy in the Workplace

Allowing empathy in the workplace encourages leading from the heart. By centering emotional intelligence in your organization, you’ll prioritize a people-first approach to leadership.

Empathy allows us to recognize others’ emotions and to understand their point of view in a situation. When employed in the workplace, empathy offers insight into how to understand and respond to others’ needs. While empathy can be confused with sympathy, the two aren’t the same. Empathy focuses on identifying and sharing the emotions and experiences of others.

By practicing emotional intelligence, organizations can use empathy to better navigate and support their employee’s well-being, while driving innovation and collaboration. As life constantly ebbs and flows, employees need empathetic leaders that understand the nuances of navigating life’s changes. This allows team members to craft the best work-life balance that lets them do their best work while maintaining a positive home life.

Empathy as Empowerment

Why is empathy important for business? The simple answer is that empathy empowers. As leaders and fellow team members extend empathy to each other, they are allowing one another to feel a sense of validation and respect. Considered to be an organizational superpower, empathy can positively impact employees’ engagement, motivation, and well-being.

The true power of empathy lies in your ability to envision yourself in a team member’s position, or a position of leadership. Once empathy becomes part of the organizational culture, it empowers employees to center their fellow members and work collaboratively.

From a leadership perspective, empathy invites employees into the decision-making process. This communicates that leaders value and trust the opinions and positions of their team members. As such, more employees feel a sense of validation and are driven to engage with their work and their teams’.

The Ethos of Empathy

Workplace empathy is part of a larger conversation about organizational ethics. The ethics of an organization refer to how the leadership and team members respond to their external environment. These ethics dictate the principles and guidelines that determine how the company and its employees conduct business in the workplace.

Leaders should work to translate empathy into their organizational ethos to ensure that every decision is guided by a commitment to uplifting and connecting with others. To make an impact with empathy and ingratiate it in your company culture, ensure that your organization has a clear code of ethics. By building empathy into your ethos, you’ll train your leaders and employees to constantly prioritize each other’s feelings and perspectives in the workplace.

Why Empathy is Important for Business

Empathy has a multifaceted impact on the workplace. From enhancing leaders’ capabilities and improving the way team members relate to one another to prioritizing clients’ needs and customer relations, empathy is undoubtedly an important part of any business.

Empathy benefits businesses in the following ways:

1. Empathy is your leadership superpower.

Maintain Top Talent: Leaders that connect with their team in a genuine way are able to foster a sense of loyalty and retain the best people.
Boost Morale by Instilling Motivation: Empathetic leaders can successfully encourage their teams and motivate them to perform at their best.

Increase Sales and Productivity: Leaders with empathy can better understand customers’ needs and address their desires, pain points, and fears.

2. Empathy is essential for teams.

Develop a Community: Through empathy, team members can develop stronger bands and build trust in each other. This allows team members to become a true community both in and out of the workplace.

Increase innovation: Empathy is linked to innovation as it allows team members to practice curiosity, generosity, and equality towards their colleagues’ ideas. By entering another’s perspective, team members develop a sense of compassion that allows for creative thinking.

Create a safe environment for collaboration and learning: Teams that practice empathy are leading with their heart. This encourages a sense of psychological safety, allowing others to feel vulnerable and open to learning and collaborating.

3. Empathy is transformative for clients.

Forge connections with customers: Empathetic organizations put their clients first. This human-centered approach allows teams and leadership to build real bonds with their customers that can last a lifetime.
Prioritize clients’ wants and needs: Why is empathy important for business? Empathy makes it easy to identify and prioritize clients’ wants and needs. By walking a mile in their shoes, an organization will have a better understanding of customers’ expectations.

Applications of Organizational Empathy

Discovering why empathy is important for business is the first step in cultivating an empathic culture. The next challenge is learning to apply empathy in every facet of your organization.

Implement empathy in your workplace with the following practices:

1. Listen to Others

Listening to others is the first step in implementing empathy in the workplace. Listening goes beyond hearing what someone says; empathic listening requires one to actively listen and pay attention to body language, facial expressions, and similar nuances.

2. Use Empathy Maps

Empathy maps allow organizations to take a human-centered approach to problem solving and ideation. Essentially, this helps one to get inside the user’s head. Organizations use empathy maps to determine what the user is thinking or feeling, and how they may experience the product.

3. Design User Personas

User personas identify the skills, goals, attitudes, background information, and behavioral patterns of your target audience. This allows your team to better explore how to relate to users and which solutions would benefit them the most.

4. Practice Empathy Immersion

Use an activity called empathy immersion to encourage your team to understand their perspective and opinion of others.

Change Your Perspective

Challenge your team to adopt another’s perspective.

Limit Yourself

A major part of having empathy for another person is understanding the challenges and struggles they face. By limiting yourself, you’ll be able to experience the same type of challenges as you empathize with their experience.

Do It Yourself

Oftentimes in the field, it makes the most sense to wait for management or a qualified leader. However, this shouldn’t limit one from problem-solving on their own. Under empathetic leadership, team members will feel a sense of self-motivation and confidence that allows them to take agency and create solutions of their own.

Similar Experience

Team members can empathize with each other and their clients by recreating an experience similar to what their colleagues or customers are going through.

Day-in-the-Life

A day-in-the-life activity allows team members to walk in another’s shoes and navigate the successes and pitfalls from another person’s perspective.

Want to adopt empathy in your organization? Connect with us at Voltage control to learn the ways you can implement empathy in your workplace. Our courses on Change Management and Master Facilitation will teach the art of leading with empathy as you learn how to shift your company culture to one that embraces an empathic ethos.

Article originally seen at VoltageControl.com

Image Credit: Pexels

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A How To Guide for Overcoming Procrastination

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A How To Guide for Overcoming Procrastination

GUEST POST from Janet Sernack

I often wonder why some people procrastinate by delaying, postponing, or avoiding solving problems, or by withdrawing from making smart decisions, taking calculated risks, or taking intelligent actions?

Why do they become paralyzed and unable to take the actions necessary to solve some of their key problems?
Why do they often resist making even the most necessary changes to support the delivery of their creative solutions?
Why do so many also avoid taking personal responsibility and being accountable towards achieving their desired outcomes and goals?
Why do people disengage, even when the situation or problem may be critical to their own, their teams, or their organizations success?

Despite knowing that there may be a range of negative consequences for procrastinating, involving a crippling, overwhelming, and paralyzing combination of reactive responses?

Which then typically impacts negatively on people’s self-efficacy and self-belief, self-worth, and self-esteem and diminishes their motivation, disengages them and immobilizes their ability to take the necessary actions and as a result, spiral downwards?

How do we help people overcome procrastination?

Why is this important?

It seems that procrastination is a challenge we and many others have faced at one point or another, where we struggle with being indecisive, delaying, ignoring, avoiding taking actions to initiate, progress, or completing tasks that may be important to us, as well as on issues that really matter to us, our teams, partners and organizations.

Ultimately leading to failures, and an inability to mitigate risks, or be creative and inventive and decreasing possibilities for innovation and increasing engagement, productivity, and improving performance.

Also potentially leading to feelings of loss, insecurity, inadequacy, frustration, disengagement, and depression and in extreme cases, client, project failures and job losses, and even burnout!

Why do people procrastinate?

The need for security and self-protection is the key root causes of procrastination

Procrastination is most often a self-protection strategy, a way of defending ourselves, rooted in fears that result in anxieties around feeling unsafe, vulnerable, and being judged or punished, especially in times of uncertainty, unpredictability, uncontrollability, and when feeling overwhelmed.

In most organizational contexts, procrastinators are likely to respond be risk-averse by:

Being apprehensive and even withdrawing energetically (dis-engaging) from people as well as from the creative conversation, coupled with a lack of commitment to the change process or towards achieving the agreed goal (lacking conviction and being worried about the future).
Not showing up and spending a lot of time and energy zigzagging around and away from what they feel is consuming them or making them feel threatened or uncomfortable (avoidance).
Blaming external people and factors for not “allowing” them to participate or succeed (time, workload, culture, or environment).
Denying that achieving the goal really matters, bringing up excuses, and reasonable reasons about why having the goal doesn’t really matter to them, as well as a willingness to take risks (non-committal).
Being fearful of the future, dreading what might be the range of possible negative and overwhelming events and situations (pessimism).

What are the key signals of an effective procrastinator?

The first step in noticing the key signals is to tune into our own, and peoples’ effective avoidance default pattern as to what is really going on from a systemic perspective.

By paying deep attention, and being non -judgmental and non evaluative to the range of signals outlined as follows:

Behavior Signals

“Playing it safe” or “being nice” by being unwilling to challenge and be challenged.
Resisting any change efforts, disengaging, and being reluctant to disclose and share authentically what is really going on for them.
Unwillingness to take risks.
Shying away from engaging with their partners, families, colleagues, group activities, and from having candid conversations.
Being overtly indecisive and non-committal.

Neurological State Signals

Increased anxiety and “attention deficit” syndrome.
Low motivation and self-confidence.
Diminished ability to self-regulate and self-control.
Diminished self-efficacy and self-concept.
Onslaught of the creeping doubts and the imposter syndrome.

Extrinsic or Environmental Signals Occur When Fearful of Perception of Others

Performing poorly, making mistakes, or failing.
Fearful of doing too well, or in being too successful.
Losing control, status, or role.
Looking stupid, or being disapproved of.
Avoids conflict situations.

Fear of Success Signals

Some of us are unconsciously afraid of success, because irrationally we secretly believe that we are not worthy of it and don’t deserve it, and then self-sabotage our chances of success!

Being shy, introverted, and uncomfortable in the spotlight.
Being publicly successful brings social or emotional isolation.
Alienating peers as a result of achievement.
People may think you’re self-promoting.
Being perceived as a “tall poppy”.
Believing that success may not be all it’s cracked up to be, and that it might change you, but not for the better.

Fear of Failure Signals

Some people’s motivation to avoid failure often exceeds their motivation to succeed, which can cause them to unconsciously sabotage their chances of success.

Cognitive biases or irrational beliefs act as filters distorting reality.
Past pains felt from being vulnerable, abandoned, punished, blamed, or shamed in front of others, or of being disapproved of, envied, rejected, or disliked by others.
Fearful of looking “bad” or incompetent, in front of others.
Feeling threatened, a sense of danger or potential punishment, causing them to move away (freeze, fight, take flight) from confronting dangerous, painful situations as threatening.

Overcoming Procrastination Tips

Co-create a safe, compassionate, and collaborative relationship

As most people find safety in procrastination at some point in time, to be an effective leader, manager, or coach in these situations, it’s important to be empathic and compassionate and “work with” where they may be coming from in terms of underlying self-beliefs:

“I don’t want to get hurt”.
“I don’t want to expose myself to risk”.

As well as respond constructively to their thoughts about how others may see them including:

Lacking confidence,
Hesitant.

Noticing how they may perceive themselves:

“I am nowhere near as good as I should be”.
“I am inadequate.”

Then by paying deep attention, and being intentional in co-creating a safe creative, and collaborative conversation that builds safety, permission, rapport, and trust by being:

Gentle and non-threatening, being both kind and courageous,
Aware of being both too direct, fast, and too laid back.
Providing gentle guiding, assurance, and lots of patience.
Focused on encouraging engagement, commitment, and confidence towards setting and achieving the desired outcome.

Ultimately enabling and equipping people to overcome procrastination creates openings and thresholds for learning and growth, to become the best person, to themselves and others, they can possibly be, and achieve the changes they wish to make in the world.

Find out about The Coach for Innovators Certified Program, a collaborative, intimate, and deep personalized innovation coaching and learning program, supported by a global group of peers over 8-weeks, starting May 2022. It is a blended learning program that will give you a deep understanding of the language, principles, and applications of a human-centered approach to innovation, within your unique context. Find out more.

Contact us now at mailto:janet@imaginenation.com.au to find out how we can partner with you to learn, adapt, and grow your business, team and organisation through disruption.

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Designing for Humans

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Bridging Empathy and Innovation

Designing for Humans - Bridging Empathy and Innovation

GUEST POST from Art Inteligencia

In a world that is constantly evolving, the need to innovate is imperative. However, innovation should not be pursued at the expense of human-centric design. To truly succeed, businesses and innovators must build a bridge between empathy and innovation, ensuring that every solution aligns with the deeper needs, desires, and behaviors of real people. As a thought leader in human-centered change and innovation, I’m passionate about this intersection and how it can lead to transformational success.

Harnessing Empathy in Design

Empathy is at the heart of human-centered design. It involves stepping into the shoes of your users and understanding their experiences, pain points, and motivations. By prioritizing empathy, design teams can uncover insights that traditional data analysis might miss, leading to more meaningful, impactful innovations.

Case Study 1: IDEO and the Design of the First Apple Mouse

In the early 1980s, Apple collaborated with the design and innovation consultancy IDEO to create the first computer mouse for personal computers. While the technical design and innovation were crucial, IDEO’s commitment to understanding the everyday user’s experience was what set this project apart.

By observing how people interacted with computers, IDEO was able to design a mouse that was intuitive and easy to use. This focus on user experience and empathy led to a product that not only met functional requirements but also transformed how people interacted with technology, paving the way for Apple’s user-centric philosophy.

Bridging Empathy and Innovation through Collaborative Design

Collaborative design is a method of integrating diverse perspectives and expertise into the innovation process. By bringing together cross-functional teams and incorporating feedback from users, organizations can ensure that solutions are not only innovative but also grounded in real-world needs.

Case Study 2: Airbnb’s Evolution through Storytelling and Empathic Research

Airbnb’s journey from a struggling startup to a global hospitality powerhouse is a testament to the power of empathy and storytelling. The company invested in deeply understanding the journey and experiences of their users – both hosts and guests.

Through empathic research and storytelling workshops, Airbnb’s design team was able to identify key pain points and emotional highs present in their customer journey. This enabled them to design a platform that addresses both practical and emotional needs, fostering trust and engagement with the brand.

The Path Forward: Empathy-Driven Innovation Cultures

For organizations looking to replicate such success, fostering a culture that values empathy and innovation is paramount. By investing in ongoing user research, promoting cross-disciplinary collaborations, and prioritizing human-centered outcomes, businesses can create products and services that resonate deeply with users.

To explore further, check out my other articles on Human-Centered Innovation: The New Imperative and Empathic Research: Unlocking Insights for Breakthrough Innovation for deeper insights on embedding empathy into the innovation process.

As we venture into the future, it is clear that the most successful innovations will be those that are intimately connected with human needs and aspirations. By bridging empathy and innovation, we can create a world where technology and design truly enhance the human experience.

Please make sure the links provided are reviewed as they are conceptual in this context. Confirm their existence on your site at the actual URLs.

Extra Extra: Futurology is not fortune telling. Futurists use a scientific approach to create their deliverables, but a methodology and tools like those in FutureHacking™ can empower anyone to engage in futurology themselves.

Image credit: Pexels

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Driving Innovation Through Empathy, Leadership and Understanding

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Driving Innovation Through Empathy, Leadership and Understanding

GUEST POST from Art Inteligencia

In the rapidly evolving world of business, innovation stands as a critical driver for success. While processes, structures, and technologies play substantial roles, the human element—particularly empathy—holds profound potential. Empathy allows leaders to deeply understand and genuinely connect with their teams and customers, fostering an environment where innovation thrives. This article explores the intricate relationship between empathy and leadership, anchored by compelling case studies that illustrate transformative outcomes when empathy is prioritized.

Case Study 1: The LEGO Group

LEGO, the beloved toy company, experienced significant challenges in the early 2000s. The company was nearing bankruptcy due to a failure to adapt to the changing interests of its core audience—children. The leadership team at LEGO realized a need to step back and adopt a fresh perspective grounded in empathy.

The turnaround strategy, famously termed “LEGO’s Business Transformation,” required the leadership to immerse themselves in the world of their customers—children. By spending time observing and interacting with children during play sessions, LEGO’s leaders understood the emotional and creative needs of their audience. This led to innovations like the immensely popular LEGO Friends series, which was designed based on detailed feedback from young girls who were previously underserved by traditionally boy-oriented LEGO products.

The result was not only an incredible resurgence in profitability but also an innovation culture that prioritizes deep customer connection and iterative feedback—a testament to the power of empathy-driven leadership.

Case Study 2: Microsoft’s Cultural Transformation

When Satya Nadella became the CEO of Microsoft in 2014, the company was seen as a bureaucratic giant struggling to compete with more nimble tech innovators. Nadella’s leadership focused heavily on empathy, both internally across Microsoft’s vast workforce and externally toward customers.

Internally, Nadella encouraged a cultural shift from a “know-it-all” to a “learn-it-all” philosophy. He challenged teams to use empathy to transform customer engagement strategies and product development processes. A concrete example is the development of features for people with disabilities, inspired by Nadella’s personal experiences as a father of a child with special needs.

This empathy-first approach led to breakthrough innovations such as Seeing AI, an app that narrates the world for the visually impaired, exemplifying how deep understanding and leadership empathy could drive product innovation while simultaneously enhancing Microsoft’s brand value and market relevance.

Conclusion

Empathy enables leaders to connect deeply with their teams and customers, providing a compass that guides innovative practices. The stories of LEGO and Microsoft underscore the profound impact that empathy can have when it shapes leadership strategies. As businesses grapple with complex challenges, those that integrate empathy into the very fabric of their leadership are not only poised to innovate but to do so in a manner that genuinely resonates with human needs.

In embracing empathy, leaders unlock the key to sustainable innovation, transforming their organizations into environments where understanding, creativity, and impact coexist harmoniously.

Bottom line: Futurology is not fortune telling. Futurists use a scientific approach to create their deliverables, but a methodology and tools like those in FutureHacking™ can empower anyone to engage in futurology themselves.

Image credit: Pexels

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