I can remember the first Mother's Day after my daughter, Mercy Joan, died.  Everything inside of me felt out of step with the holiday. 

You can use emotional mirroring to build connection at work. Many people feel uncertain of how to respond when someone is experiencing strong emotions. “What do I do?” or “What do I say?” When another person is feeling mad/sad/hurt/overwhelmed/happy, they want to know that you “see” them. This is where emotional mirroring helps.

I was at a networking event this month. The peppy emcee bubbled over in a welcome, telling us to promote the event and chirping, "Remember, positive vibes only!" I think she was well-intentioned...but the remark was tone-deaf. Because, over coffee, I had already talked to a woman whose brother was just killed and another whose long-term relationship had foundered. And that was just in the first 5 minutes!

Great keynote session this afternoon! Cheers to organizations like the Wellness Council of Indiana, talking about all the things that matter right now in the lives of employees: sessions on mental wellness, trauma, loneliness, empathy. I love where we are headed: towards more connected, human workplaces.

Some great ways to cultivate your empathetic imagination include….
1) Reading books by authors from different worldviews/cultures/experiences
2) Pausing while watching a show to ask, “I wonder why they are feeling/doing that?”
3) Ask (often), “What else might be going on right now to make this person act the way that they are acting?”. Engage the question with compassion and imagination.

Join me at the Wellness Council of Indiana Summit on August 12. My session is "From Me to We: How to Cultivate Empathy and Promote Mental Well-Being". The content is more important than ever. Last year, 26 million Americans went untreated for mental health issues, isolation was rampant as we all sheltered in place, and anxiety was a consistent companion.

As our session began, I asked participants about the disruptive life events that had rocked their world recently.
Here are just a few of the responses: “Husband had a stroke”, “Attempted Suicide”, “Loss of 4 family members”, “Birth of a baby”, “Children needing to be homeschooled”. We have all endured and suffered this year. We carry our stories to work.

Father’s Day is this Sunday (June 20). And there is (probably) someone in your life that is going to have a hard holiday.

So, I locked my keys in the car. They are, still, leering at me from the middle console as I wait for the USAA rescue crew. Being stuck at Chipotle is a minor disruptive life event. I needed help. Because I was stranded with 3 of my 4 children and another needed to be picked up from camp.

How do we create a culture where people want to share (so that we can practice empathy)? Great question from my morning session with the hard-working team of the United Way of Central Indiana. They are doing such important work! One great way to open up a deeper level of understanding and support is to do a temperature check with your team.

“You brought so much light to what our teams are going through…”. I love reading comments like this at the close of a session. The great engagements just keep coming this week…

I was in a room full of people today, doing what I love! Being in-person again was a delight. Thank you, Park Tudor School. Our all-day session offered so many moments of learning and connection. Educators are pandemic heroes and it was a pleasure to bring this content into a school setting.

The JoyPowered Journal from JoDee Curtiss and the team at Purple Ink llc is such a great resource for reflection and growth.

And I am honored to be a contributor

Micro-compassions. Isn’t that a great term? Scott Shute defines micro-compassions as the powerful movement from “Me” to “We”. Here are a few to try in your workplace today…

Cliché. Definition: a phrase or opinion that is overused and displays a lack of original thought. Also, a common (and crappy) way to verbally process someone else’s pain. I call this the Cheer-Up Cheryl response pattern, wanting to make it “better” for someone else. Here are a few of the thoughtless, devoid-of-original-thought verbal garbage that we go to…

Any other working moms out there? Continually aware of all the ways you are falling short, trying to survive, work, and parent in the midst of a global pandemic? Then you will delight in this NY Times article too! 12 Moms, celebrating their secret strengths...the little successes that we all too often overlook in the press to do and be more.

I yelled at Luke, threw a book across the room, and was so bone weary I couldn’t even cry. Mother’s Day, 2011. Eight weeks after I buried my daughter, Mercy Joan. I was not OK. The day is right around the corner (May 9). And Mother’s Day is so much more complex than the Hallmark cards make it look…

When you mishandle someone who is hurting, and you will (none of us is perfect). Apologize. Try out this phrasing: “I’m sorry. I didn’t show up/respond/care for you the way that I would have wanted to. I was careless/too busy/didn’t know what to say. I am going to do better moving forwards.”

The entrepreneurial life can be lonely!

Expressing our humanity through shared sorrow, not just to the Internet but with our colleagues and friends, is vital. It is part of the path towards healing and meaningful change.