Tag: life lessons

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Empathetic Leadership Lessons From the Ultimate Crash Course: Parenting

Posted on by Red Slice

Nothing has taught me more about empathy than being a parent. Full stop.

And trust me, I’ve had plenty of training. I’ve studied empathy, coached it, written books about it, and spoken to rooms full of leaders about how to cultivate it. But the real crash course? That came the moment I became “Mom.”

Parenting is empathy bootcamp on steroids. Talk about adapting to different styles: you’re not just parenting one child—you’re parenting a different version of that child every few months. One day, he’s gleefully dancing hip hop at a local dance studio. Six months later, he would rather die than dance in public, and suddenly hates that same song you used to belt out together in the car.

It’s disorienting, exhausting, and often hilarious. And most of all, it’s a masterclass in seeing the world from a perspective that’s wildly different from your own—even when it makes zero logical sense to you.

So yes, I’ve hesitated to compare parenting to leadership. It can feel condescending—no adult wants to feel like they’re being “parented” at work. But the parallels are impossible to ignore. Just like with your kids, the best leaders are the ones who adapt, listen deeply, stay humble, and respond with compassion rather than control.

Here are four parenting lessons I’m (constantly) learning—read: screwing up, reflecting on, and trying again—that translate directly to empathetic leadership:

1. Stay Humble

Your child’s world is not your world. I can try to learn the Gen Z slang. I can try (and fail) to buy the right hoodie or get the TikTok reference. But I will never be “in” his generation. I’m forever a tourist in his cultural landscape. And in his words, I grew up “in dinosaur times.”

Ouch. And also—fair.

Humility is critical here. The moment I get defensive or try to assert authority simply because I’m older or “wiser,” I lose the chance to truly connect. It’s the same with employees. You may have more experience, but that doesn’t mean your view is the only valid one. Ego kills empathy. Empathetic leaders check their assumptions and stay open to learning—from anyone, at any level.

2. Practice Resilience

I used to love a good routine. Consistency was my jam. And then I became a parent.

Plans? Ha. Routines? Temporary. There’s always a new sport, a last-minute sleepover request, a forgotten science project due tomorrow morning. Parenting forces you to improvise constantly. You bend or you break.

The same applies at work. Leadership—especially empathetic leadership—requires emotional agility. You can’t cling to rigid strategies when people’s lives and needs are fluid. You learn to adapt in real time and not take disruption personally. Change isn’t an obstacle—it’s a given. Resilient leaders don’t just survive it, they model how to move through it with grace.

3. Meet Them Where They Are

My son has his own strengths, struggles, and rhythms. I can’t project my goals or pace onto him and expect things to go smoothly. I have to understand what motivates him, what holds him back, and how he best learns and grows. Only then can we work toward something together.

This is leadership in a nutshell. People aren’t blank slates you get to mold into your ideal worker. They bring their personalities, strengths, and limitations. Your job is to tune in, not steamroll. The most effective leaders build trust by meeting people where they are—and helping them thrive from that starting point.

4. Let Go of Control

Here’s one I continue to struggle with, especially as my son gets older: I am not in control. I can set boundaries, offer guidance, and hold space. But ultimately, he’s going to make his own choices, develop his own opinions, and experience his own wins and failures.

Empathetic leaders don’t micromanage or dictate every move. They create a safe environment for people to step into their autonomy. That means trusting your team to find their own voice—even if it means they sometimes fail. Especially then. Because empathy isn’t about protecting people from discomfort; it’s about supporting them through it.

Empathy is a Daily Practice

Empathy in leadership isn’t just about being “nice.” It’s about doing the hard, human work of showing up with curiosity, humility, and flexibility—even when you’re tired or frustrated or just don’t get it. Parenting has been the ultimate mirror for me—a reminder that real empathy isn’t something you master and move on from. It’s something you practice. Over and over and over again.

So whether you’re leading a team or helping a pre-teen navigate a middle school meltdown, remember: you don’t have to have all the answers. You just have to be present, be real, and be willing to grow right alongside them.

Need some upskilling for yourself or your team on how to apply empathy in the workplace in practical ways that lead to results? Let’s chat about your needs and goals, and see if one of my  workshops or talks can help transform your team into master collaborators and fearless innovators.

Photo Credit: Surface on Unsplash

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Brain Injury Recovery: Letting Go of the Past to Accelerate Success

Posted on by Red Slice

September is Brain Aneurysm Awareness Month. And August 4 was my 16 year “annie-versary” (as they call it) of surviving my own near-fatal brain aneurysm.

So many blessing to be thankful for. So many lessons learned.

In my  memoir Rebooting My Brain, I shared that my own worst obstacle was not about my cognitive deficits or any physical limitations. Not even my impaired eyesight at the time. It came from within ME.

My stubbornness in refusing to change and adapt. 

I kept trying to compare myself to the Old Me, to the baseline that existed before. “But before, I could do ….easier, faster, better! I just need to do it like that again!”

Until a very kind occupational therapist challenged me with tough love, saying, “Forget about what you used to do or how you used to be”  She challenged me to face what was  in front of me right now and figure out new strategies to get to my goals..

Once I stopped clinging to the past and embraced what was now in front of me, I found new ways to achieve my goals  – and I thrived. My progress accelerated.

And this is exactly what I’m seeing leaders doing now, in our post-pandemic workplaces. Leaders refusing to adapt. Leaders clinging to outdate models. Leaders return to what they know out of fear.

What does that look like? 

  • Demanding 5 days a week back in the office
  • Refusing to keep some of the flexibility they offered during the Pandemic
  • Cutting DEIB programs and budgets

And you can probably fill in more examples you’ve seen.

My empathy speaker work is about helping leadering understand how to adapt to the new paradigms of leadership and workplace culture. Once they do, their progress and success will accelerate,  just as it did for me!

However, here’s the plot twist:

Employees, you have agency, too. 

If you are lucky enough to have a leadership team who understands the benefits they get from offering flexibility and a more human-centered workplace,  great. But if you are not, YOU STILL GET TO MAKE A CHOICE. You deal with the new reality before you.

Stop trying to fit a square peg into a round hole – or culture, if you will.

If your organization’s business decisions no longer align with your values or lifestyle, you get to make a decision to adapt. 

The company is showing you who they are. They are allowed to do business however they see fit. Yes, even if it’s short-sighted, limiting, and will hurt them competitively in the long run. 

BU they are not required to change for you. A human-centered workplace does not equal a YOU-centered workplace, unfortunately. The company also has a responsibility to all its employees and customers to run sustainable, with governance and compliance as they see fit. 

So the choice is yours: 

Despite your best efforts to create change where you are, will you continue to defiantly cling to the flexibilities you used to have during the Pandemic. Or will you adapt to the reality before you and chart a new path? Find a new company or role that better aligns with your values and needs?

Once you do, your progress and success will accelerate.

PS, Let’s take a moment to acknowledge that not every worker has the luxury of just leaving an inflexible environment and finding a new job. But if you are able to in your industry or career, it may be time to adapt and move on in order to thrive.

Photo credit: Ankush Minda on Unsplash

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

3 Ways You Can Make Empathy a Habit

Posted on by Red Slice

As science has proven to us, empathy is innate to human beings. It’s just that sometimes, barring specific psychological disorders, that muscle atrophies. Whether it’s because of how you were raised, or your current workplace, or who you surround yourself with, the muscle can lose its tone when empathy is not celebrated, rewarded, or modeled.

And like starting a new fitness routine, we need to tweak our surroundings in order to support this new habit we want to develop. It’s like stocking the fridge with healthy food so you can easily make better choices about your nutrition!

I’ve been listening to Atomic Habits by James Clear, which is amazing. In it, he talks about needing to change your environment and context in order to create habits that stick.

So how does this apply to building a habit of empathy?

Well, we can’t always easily replace our colleagues, managers, family, or friends! But we can develop an awareness of how they may or may not be showing up with empathy that supports our own desire for transformation. And we can make our own small changes to increase our chances for success.

If you’re falling back on negative, old, outdated leadership models, what can you do to physically, psychologically, and emotionally change your context to cultivate more empathy?

Try these ideas:

  1. Make a commitment to bring empathy to all your interactions as best you can: You can only control yourself. Be the model in the conversation so you “train “people you work with that this is how you want the interactions to go. For example, ask more questions. Reflect back what someone says before you launch into your perspective to make sure you’re on the same page and you heard them right. Ask about how people are doing and really listen before diving into business right away. These subtle cues will get noticed and people will start to recognize that when they interact with you, they need to take a pause, see the other person, and engage in active listening.
  1. Share your empathy-building goals – out loud:  Clarity is one of the five pillars to being an effective empathic leader that I talk about in my forthcoming book, The Empathy Dilemma: How Successful Leaders Balance Performance, People, and Personal Boundaries. Don’t make assumptions. If you have a goal to be more empathetic, share it with your team and colleagues  Something like, “To help this team feel more engaged and be more successful, I’m setting a new habit for myself and I would so appreciate your support. I’m working on strengthening my empathy so that I can be a more connected leader for you. So if you feel that I’m not seeing or hearing you in our interactions, please call me out on it. Maybe you’ll all join me in this effort to bring more empathy into our team dynamic.”
  1. Change your routine, context, or environment: You can get creative on this one. It could be something as simple as a sticky note on your laptop that reminds you to “Ask 3 questions before starting anything in a one-to-one meeting.” Or revamping meetings to make space for not just on-the-fly brainstorming that benefits extroverts, but journaling time before offering ideas to support introverts. Or creating a rule that no meeting can take place without an agenda and any materials to review sent ahead of time. Implement a way for all team members to give feedback that feels safe and encouraged. Take a poll of your team and find out the best times to hold weekly meetings so you are supporting all lifestyle needs of parents, disabled team members, or those who handle elder care. Recognize someone each week who has exhibited empathy with a colleague or customer so that it becomes a public celebration.

Building an empathy habit does not require massive disruption. It’s in the small steps that we make progress. Find those small and easy opportunities to change your environment and context so your empathy habit can better stick.

Photo credit: Unsplash