How can you build empathy into your start-up? Josh Driver and Zach Rodenbarger from Selfless.ly share how they sustained connection and built their company during the dual pressures of start-up life and a bruising global pandemic. You will hear about the importance of taking a walk, how “hangry” can get in the way of communication, and why Nerf guns could be a good idea for your office culture.

“Chief (stop treating humans like resources) Officer”. This is the tagline for the new ad campaign at 15five where Adam Weber is the Head of Culture. And this radical attention to leading other humans like a human is what we are talking about today. Here are a few of the great topics we cover: How can you equip newly-minted managers with the necessary people skills to succeed? How does empathy help during conflict? And how did early mistakes shape Adam’s career?

Leading with empathy and compassion takes intention…and Max Yoder has put in the work. He shares how leaders can increase their human skills. Max talks about the work of self-acceptance (and how it differs from approval), why reciprocal thinking is a race to the bottom, how unrelenting expectations-of-self keep him from connecting, and why emotional liberation was the most important lesson that he learned while leading at Lessonly.

Human skills ARE business skills. You can't create lasting, high-performing teams without paying attention to and caring for the actual humans on your team. My guest, Joe Staples, has seen this again and again in his work. We are going to talk about tips and tactics to build connection (hint: nothing brings people together like food), how walking a mile, literally, in someone else’s role can build empathy, and why a group softball game was one of Joe’s biggest misses in team building.

Today, I talk with Executive Coach Tegan Trovato about the awakening that is happening in the workforce as a result of COVID, change, and choice. How workers are choosing jobs based on values and what top leaders are doing to welcome and nurture the whole person at work. We talk about personalizing empathy, why this change is good for your workplace, and how the question, “what did you do to support your people during COVID?” will mark your company for years to come.

If you don’t understand your people, what motivates them, what scares them, and what they need in order to stay engaged in the midst of an incredibly challenging work season, you aren’t leading well. As Nick Smarrelli, CEO of GadellNet Consulting declares, “It is a people game” and “Psychology always wins”. Nick shares tips and tactics on how to motivate and get the pulse of your people during crisis and COVID in our conversation.

“At the end of the day, work is important and it matters. But it is work. And we are humans and we are people. We are sadness and we are joy…and that has a huge influence on our work.” Jorge Alejandro Vargas manages teams around the world for Wikimedia. He shares tips to effectively engage multi-national teams during the stressors of a global pandemic, what leaders must become more self-aware of their emotional world and why apologizing and making repairs is the mark of a great leader.

Scott Shute is the Head of Mindfulness and Compassion at LinkedIn and he is on a mission to change work from the inside out by mainstreaming mindfulness and operationalizing compassion. From micro-compassions to why the knowledge economy necessitates a more human approach to work, Scott shares how compassion is truly a competitive advantage.

Pain can rob you of language. And it’s complicated because you have your own hard experiences…which compromises your ability to reach out. This is where the language of lament is so helpful. Mark Vroegop is a leader, pastor, and author. His book, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, is all about lament. Mark tells the story of his personal loss in the death of Sylvia and opens up how the language of lament will help you encounter your own pain as well as the pain in others.

This episode is about supporting those who are dealing with the disease of addiction. And Wendy Noe has so much to share. She is the executive director of the Dove Recovery House in Indianapolis, a residential program for women with substance abuse disorders. She is also a woman directly affected by substance addictions. Wendy walked with her brother as he spiraled deeper into addiction and she has really good words to offer as you try to help someone who is grappling with their addiction.

Anti-Asian hate crimes skyrocketed last year. How do we talk about the painful experience of Asian Americans living in the United States? What does it mean to create space to hear from and grieve with your Asian friends or coworkers? Tara VanderWoude is a Korean American advocate and educator. She speaks with power, insight, and eloquence about the challenges facing Asian Americans and how you can be a part of the solution, actively combatting hate and showing support when it matters most.

In today’s episode, we are talking about the trauma of lay-offs, how to fire someone with empathy, what it looks (and sounds like) when employers pile on the shame, and the emotional PTSD that can occur when you lose your job. We are talking male expectations, class differences, and how lay-offs can actually make us better, more empathetic people.

Sometimes in life, one disruptive life event comes quickly after another. This can feel especially devastating when the pain affects your children. My guest is Jill Harding. Her oldest child, Grant, was diagnosed with leukemia and her middle child, Berkley, had a life-threatening bout of E. coli. You will get a behind the scenes look at the challenges and even joy along the journey and learn how to be a better manager, coworker, or friend to people living through similar situations.

Today, we are talking about addiction: its roots, the challenge of staying sober, and how workplaces can support their people as they work to manage their addictions. My guest is Mike Thibideau, the Director of Indiana Workforce Recovery. But Mike doesn’t just work in recovery. He is a man in recovery himself: sober for five years. In his story, you will find insight into the journey and helpful tips if you work with or are a friend to someone who is dealing with addiction.

Miscarriage is sometimes called a silent loss. Women often carry the sorrow in isolation. And yet, the experience is surprisingly common. 1 in every 8 known pregnancies ends in miscarriage. Danielle Ireland is a speaker, actress, and a licensed therapist and she shares about the miscarriage of her son. Danielle reflects on the importance of empathy, how partners can grieve differently, and why it really bugged her when people kept telling her, “I’m sorry”.

1 out of every 8 US women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, which means that you probably work with or know an affected woman. How an employer responds to and supports women with breast cancer matters. Do you have policies and support measures in place to support friends and employees for the long-term of recovery? Breast-cancer survivor Cari Hahn shares her story of job loss, struggle, and rebirth after cancer. Her wisdom will help you avoid painful workplace missteps.

Today, I talk about leadership and COVID with Arwen Widmer-Bobyk. Her story is one of poor responses, missing email links, uncertainty, and ill-considered comfort. Yet, through it all, Arwen has seen her diagnosis as a tremendous leadership opportunity, to model a different way of engaging the virus. Here's a teaser: when someone tells you that they just tested positive for COVID, make sure that your first question isn’t, “Where did you get it?”

2020 finds us all living within circumstances that we can’t change. For some of us, this vulnerable posture is new and uncomfortable. Others are used to waiting.

Liuan Huska lives with chronic pain. She is a speaker, the author of a just-released book, Hurting Yet Whole: Reconciling Body and Spirit in Chronic Pain and Illness, and my guest on the Handle with Care podcast.

If you are living in the messy middle or know someone that is, this episode is for you.

This is Part 2 of an important and timely conversation on what it is to live and work in a world where whiteness is supreme. Tosca Davis and Cedrick Smith speak about their award-winning documentary (To Be Us: To Work), the long shadow of American racism, why it is infuriating to hear people admonish them to just “pull yourself up by your bootstraps”, and why we all need to get comfortable embracing our limited perspectives in order to grow.

This is the first in a two-part series about the challenge of working in a world where whiteness is supreme. And if you don’t know what that means, then this episode is probably one that you especially need to hear. My guests, Dr. Cedrick Smith and Tosca Davis, talk about their award-winning documentary film, To Be Us: To Work, and the opposition that Black professionals face in the workplace.