The Empathy Edge

Empathetic leadership drives engagement, performance, and innovation. It's a fact. Yet post-pandemic, leaders are struggling to balance the needs of their people with the demands of the business and their own mental health. This livestream session with empathy expert, speaker, author, and podcast host of The Empathy Edge, Maria Ross, will enable leaders from the Director to C-suite to build high-p...

How can we balance performance and purpose to sustain growth? Well, look no further than a successful non-profit for the answer to that! And while your organization may sell anything from software to shoes to services, you can indeed leverage a clear, co-created purpose to ignite performance. And you can embrace empathy for employees or customers who are nothing like you in order to do it. Today,...

My guest today, Steve Durbin, shares why empathy, agility, and resilience are vital to managing risk and keeping your organization secure. Steve shares the biggest threats to organizations right now and how empathetic leaders foster the resiliency needed to adapt. We discuss how CISO's and risk officers can create an empathetic culture where trust and transparency flow to help protect the organiza...

How do some leaders show up, almost effortlessly, with a proactive point of view and clear messaging? I'd bet you money that for most, it's a matter of intention and skill-building, not just natural talent! The ability to balance warmth, confidence, and competence is not just within reach for extroverts, either, according to today's guest. Today, Laura Camacho and I talk about what executive prese...

Welcome to Courage to Advance, hosted by Kim Bohr and brought to you by SparkEffect, in partnership with The Empathy Edge. Tune in to our subseries every 3rd Thursday, right here on The Empathy Edge! Or check us out at www. CourageToAdvancePodcast.com . As AI revolutionizes how we work, what makes human executive coaching irreplaceable? Kim Bohr sits down with Rod Bacon, SparkEffect's Chief Coachi...

Years ago, I was introduced to a former Marine and FBI counterintelligence officer whose job was to recruit spies to help protect our country. His secret weapon? Empathy. Finding out what is important to someone so that they can then build trust and find shared goals. Robin Dreek joins us again today to talk about his latest book, Unbreakable Alliances: A Spy Recruiter's Authoritative Guide to Cul...

Today’s episode is a little more personal. A reflection. A struggle. Because lately, I’ve been wondering: Is empathy under attack? And if so, how do we as leaders, parents, citizens—and humans —continue to lead with empathy in a world that sometimes seems to mock, punish, or politicize it? So today, I want to pull back the curtain and talk about what it’s like to do this work, and why—despite it a...

In today’s climate, where DEIB efforts are under attack, smart organizations know that embracing diverse perspectives leads to better decisions, stronger innovation, and thriving teams. Today, I’m thrilled to talk with Asheli Mann-Lofthouse about how to build and sustain impactful DEIB efforts—whether you’re just starting or already well along the journey. We dive into how DEIB differs between non...

Self-awareness is the first pillar of effective empathetic leadership in The Empathy Dilemma . If you don't know what's going on for you, you will never be able to make room for empathetic leadership. I highly recommend working with a leadership or executive coach to guide you in this self-discovery process. But the world of coaching is like the Wild West, with so many people promising the moon, e...

Welcome to Courage to Advance, hosted by Kim Bohr and brought to you by SparkEffect, in partnership with The Empathy Edge. Tune in to our subseries every 3rd Thursday, right here on The Empathy Edge! Or check us out at www. CourageToAdvancePodcast.com . In today's always-on business culture, how can leaders cut through digital noise to regain mental clarity? Kim Bohr sits down with Timothy Swords,...

Unhappiness at work causes poor performance, disengagement, mistakes, absenteeism, mental health issues, and ultimately poor customer experience and anemic sales. But defining happiness at work seems so squishy. Is the leader's job to make people happy ? Garrett Delph looks at happiness the way I look at empathy - as an intentional business strategy that can be operationalized and scaled. Today, w...

As I love to say, empathy isn’t just a soft skill—it’s a powerful tool for strategic and creative excellence. Joining me today is Vanya du Toit, the Associate Director for Wiedemann Lampe, a brand and business consultancy, who leads with empathy to drive brand transformation, team growth, and meaningful client partnerships. In this episode, Vanya shares how listening—truly listening is the foundat...

Where do empathy and compassion impact corporate profits, employee experience, and customer satisfaction? In healthcare, and yes, in your industry, no matter what it is, it starts at the local level, as my guest today shares.   Today, Geoffrey Smith and I talk about his journey as an employee experience professional in healthcare, but how he didn't really understand his work or purpose u...

We have talked a lot on this show about the benefits of a diverse and inclusive culture and how it leads to outstanding business results. But did you also know how DEI helps your company manage risk and future-proof against churn, productivity loss, and potentially falling behind in the market? Today, you will hear one of the best definitions of DEI and how it enhances your organization. And the d...

Given the country's political divide, we often hear that conversations are the key to empathy and connection. Which is true. But that also doesn't scale very well. One way to combat this is to correct dangerous political misperceptions and help us find more overlap. In fact, a Hidden Tribes study shows that 85% of Americans are more similar than we think. Today, James Coan explains the Perception...

Welcome to Courage to Advance, hosted by Kim Bohr and brought to you by SparkEffect, in partnership with The Empathy Edge.  Tune in to our subseries every 3rd Thursday, right here on The Empathy Edge! Or check us out at www. CourageToAdvancePodcast.com .  In today's uncertain job market, what separates endless applications from landing your ideal role? Kim Bohr sits down with Tim Sprange...

Building leadership muscles and practicing leadership is not always pretty. It’s got to get messy if you want to master it. Nothing brought this home to me more than a recent CrossFit workout where I really started to understand the power of muscle memory and why constant skills development is required to keep yourself sharp. Leadership is like this - we are never done learning, never done changin...

Most high achievers never look back and see how far they've come. They tend to focus on perfection and not wanting to let anyone down. Because of their outward focus on others - colleagues, customers, or employees - They often don't know how to be empathetic and tender with themselves. Empathy starts with self-awareness and self-care so leaders who want to achieve their goals would be wise to prac...

What can stoicism teach us about empathy in modern life? This centuries-old philosophy can be directly applied to what we face now in our workplaces and our world. Shermin Kruse is here to talk to us about her latest book, Stoic Empathy. She shares what stoic empathy means and how the fusion of these seemingly opposing forces is particularly relevant today. She shares her personal story and how he...

Masculine traits. Feminine traits. Can we please stop gendering leadership skills and focus instead on the human traits that will enable us to thrive? Today, I speak with culture and leadership expert Moe Carrick about gender traits in leadership.  We discuss the traditional leadership narratives and the negative impact that has on both men and women in the workplace. We talk about the crisis...

Welcome to Courage to Advance, hosted by Kim Bohr and brought to you by SparkEffect, in partnership with The Empathy Edge. Tune in to our subseries every 3rd Thursday, right here on The Empathy Edge! Or check us out at www. CourageToAdvancePodcast.com . What happens when the HR executive who once handled outplacement for others suddenly finds herself on the receiving end? In a candid role-reversal...

Here are some reflections and key takeaways from a recent webinar I co-hosted with my brilliant colleague and friend, Minette Norman. It was called “What’s Next: “What’s Next: The Future of Empathy and Inclusion in the Workplace.”  MInette is the co-author of The Psychological Safety Handbook and author of The Boldly Inclusive Leader .  And together, we had things to say! The goal of the...

When you think of workplace wellness, you may picture gym memberships and yoga mats. But joy, empathy, and inclusion also create a healthy and high-performing workplace culture! We need to reimagine what wellness means! Today, Misha Safran, shares how empathy intersects with inclusion to foster innovation and equity. We also discuss how to reframe the misconceptions about empathy that exist in hig...

There's a powerful psychological state that can paralyze us, interfere with effective relationships, block our empathy, and cause us to inflict harm. It's called shame. Today, David Bedrick shares what shame is, how it’s created, and its connection to trauma. Some say shame keeps us humble, but David shares why we don’t need shame because it's not the same as embarrassment or regret. We unpack why...

Truthbomb: A collection of people working in the same department, function, or even office are not necessarily a team. And if you want high performance, you need to know the difference. Today, Pam Fox Rollin shares the important difference between groups and teams - if you don't understand this, you may be consistently beating your head against a wall! - and the factors that help you turn your col...