Empathy Power Up

In our final episode of Season 2 of Empathy Power Up, we do a retrospective of the season behind us, what we learned in the process, and our hope for the future. We begin by wondering what makes a 21st century workplace and the workers within it, and untangle this question through the lens of a new framework that describes the common thread among more than 200 research studies on the topic. Over t...

Yearning to learn and grow is central to who we are, yet there are many things in our life that block us from growing into a better version of ourselves. We are holding so many things: trying to be good at our jobs, within treasured relationships, and also taking care of ourselves in the process. There never seems to be enough time in the day.  When we get overwhelmed with life or our work si...

What does it feel like to matter at work? This concept was a lot to wrap our minds around, as it doesn’t seem as straightforward like the other parts of the U.S. Surgeon General’s Framework on Workplace Mental Health and Wellbeing—it’s a lot more abstract.  When we matter at work, we feel valued and we also add value to our workplace. We can feel or give value to ourselves, others both at the...

Many of us can admit we work too much, and some may say we’re workaholics. In fact, we all come from a long line of ancestors pushed to work long hours all in the spirit of rugged individualism and achieving the next big thing. Whether it was by choice or not, we’ve been conditioned to chase production over knowing our own self worth and resting. But these are different times. In our ongoing discu...

Given the amount of time people spend at work, the relationships and connections we build in the workplace can have a variety of impacts on our overall well-being and success, both positive and negative. Strong workplace relationships better job satisfaction, productivity, and innovation. On the other hand, poor workplace relationships can lead to conflict, stress, and decreased productivity, and...

The well being of workers and the health of organizations are inextricably connected. More than two-in-five workers surveyed by the American Psychological Association in 2022 reported that health and safety concerns negatively affect their stress level at work.  Since the beginning of the pandemic, our work weeks have gotten longer, while our boundaries between our personal and professional l...

Imagine this: a workplace that is an engine of well-being, showing workers that they matter, that their work matters, and that they have the resources and support necessary to flourish. This future is imagined in a new report by the U.S. Surgeon General’s office (Dr. Vivek Murthy) entitled: The Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being (https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/work...

What makes a 21st century organization?  In our season 2 opener, this is the question we’re asking ourselves. Coming off the heels of a season where we looked at the aspects of the culture we want to change, we’re looking at the things we want to build.  It’s a question that your co-host Amy J. Wilson has been asking for more than a decade, and is the topic that we’re diving into for thi...

We all have been shaped by the world around us–by our family, friends, organizations around us, society, the media, and our spiritual world. In our first season, we outlined the “Characteristics of Our Culture” that is the water we swim in. We’ve been inspired by Tema Okun’s Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture . But, there are pros and cons of using this framework to talk about what needs t...

This is not another climate change episode, but it is one about empathy. Well, the lack of empathy to be exact. Our society breaks our connection to each other, and equally important is that it disconnects us from nature. Because we do not feel or see our interdependence, we feel like we can exploit nature to incredible ends. It’s a literal race to our own end.  Exploitation as a function and...

Once upon a time, the land belonged to the community of life thriving on it. Traditions like rituals, stories, and songs were passed down through generations, verbally. This knowledge was rarely written down, as it was shared by those within that community.  Over time this land was taken by an invasive species of colonizers that tried to erase cultures off the map and impose their own traditi...

Today we tackle the number one strategy that our culture uses to disconnect ourselves from ourselves and others: fear. It strips us of our power and ability to be seen, heard, and loved, while making us afraid of the humans around us.  Fear as a physical and survival response. It lessens our ability to bounce back after we experience a setback and keeps us perpetually in a place of reacting t...

Black/White, Right/Wrong, Good/Bad, Democrat/Republican, Fat/Thin. These are all examples of binary thinking--that life is either this or that. We think that we have two choices, when there’s a whole spectrum of options we haven’t even considered or explored.  Binary thinking is something that we’ve inherited from our ancestors, and is the way that many of us categorize the world. Fast forwar...

At the beginning of 2023 your Empathy Power Up co-host Amy Wilson flew across the country to attend a somatic healing retreat to help her reconnect with her body. But what she experienced was the opposite of what she expected, and it ended with a pretty big rupture in the community that she’s still processing. Listen more to learn about what happened at the retreat, and how it illuminated two char...

When something we hold sacred like our beliefs and values are questioned, our first inclination is to defend them or live in denial that other alternatives exist. Often they show up as traditions that we carry on from generation to generation. At an organizational level, this same type of thinking might show up as “this is the way we’ve always done it.” These are characteristics that have been bak...

Several months ago, your Empathy Power Up co-host Amy had an unpopular opinion: could we move back a self imposed deadline when the whole client team was working nights and weekends to get the job done?  This push towards exhaustion to reach a goal and moving onto the next thing is the conversation we’re having today.  It comes from the assembly line of the past--that we have a short per...

Perfectionism is a “belief system that fuels this primary thought: If I look perfect and do everything perfectly, I can avoid or minimize the painful feelings of blame, judgment, and shame.” (Dr. Brene Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection ). We’re fed this lie that perfection leads to success, and we’re constantly rewarded for this behavior. And we’re told that it’s our fault, and we are never good en...

We’re over it. Over the system that was set up to say who stays and who goes--that someone is “qualified” to be in a certain role, have a certain title, and to be in the “room where it happens.” There is not just one way to do anything--there are a million ways to do most things in life, so why are we saying that one way is the best way to be? The use of the phrase “qualified” has been used to dis...

It has been said that “history is written by the victors.” This quote is even more apparent in how our society and workplaces are structured. Those who hold the most power--the “victors” are the ones who write and design the world around us. We’ve inherited this dominant culture, which shapes our whole experience.  It’s established norms, values, and preferences which has become the standard...

Imagine a world where the concept of failure did not exist. What would that feel like?  The good thing is that it CAN exist--and it does. It's about reframing your mindset to think of failure as learning, which is a natural part of being human. Being able to take on new challenges and make missteps along the way is what makes us who we are today. Without these missteps, we wouldn’t be able to...

A major life event like Hurricane Katrina can shake people to the core and create real purpose in one’s life, like it did in co-host Amy J. Wilson’s life. A fateful quote led her to fully embrace being of service to others and making the “world live…with a finer spirit of hope and achievement.” Once in AmeriCorps, she takes an oath that she’s carried with her since then. “Faced with apathy, I will...

Whether we’re aware of it or not, all of us take mental notes of what’s happening to us, what it means, and what we should do. Our minds are constantly scanning and interpreting the world. That’s how we stay on track and go through life. This is what is called a “mindset.” Dr. Carol S. Dweck is one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of motivation and mindset building, and literally wr...

The late American writer James Baldwin once wrote “Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.”  It is a quote that is so relevant to today’s reality--and there’s some fundamental truths we need to face in order for us to change.  In this episode we face those truths that we need to discuss about change. We’ll do some internal awareness buil...

The pandemic has laid bare some fundamental truths that we’re just now learning. In this show, you’ll learn how shifting attitudes and beliefs have led us to behave in surprising ways. But, as Kevin and Amy state in this episode, we can turn the tide. They ask:: What is our place in changing society?  We’re at the beginning of a new awakening where we can center ourselves to become more empat...

A short prologue to Empathy PowerUP. Who we are, why are we doing this, and why is this important to us. Learn about Empathy PowerUP's mission and the hosts Amy J. Wilson and Kevin Shah.