estherderbyWhen people feel seen, they open up. The negotiation that was stalled starts moving. The team member who was withdrawn starts engaging. The conversation that stuck starts moving. Empathy isn't about agreement. It's about acknowledgment. It costs nothing, and it changes everything. Empathy is one of the nine self-leadership topics we explore in our self-pace online course, First Lead Yourself.
Most people think empathy is about being nice. It's not. It's about understanding how other people see and feel things — well enough that you can actually work with them, not just around them. And here's what surprises people: empathy is a skill. Which means it can be developed. The leaders who develop and practice empathy are consistently more effective than the ones who don't.
The hardest decisions I've made weren't hard because I didn't know the options. They were hard because two things I cared about were pulling in opposite directions. Growth vs. stability.. Speed vs. quality. Not getting fired vs doing the right thing.
#CoveValues #LeadYourself #SelfLeadership
.cc Don Gray
Do you protect time for deep thinking? What does that look like in practice — or what keeps getting in the way?
cc @donaldegray
When I was a corporate employee, my calendar was always packed. Yours probably is too. Meeting after meeting. Follow-ups, a never ending task list. By the end of the day, I felt like I’d been going 100 miles an hour, and gotten further behind. The organization I worked for rewarded people who were always slammed…”busy people get more done,” was the mantra. But busy and productive are not the same thing.
cc @donaldegray
When did your first instinct turn out to be wrong? And how did you catch it before it did damage?
The leaders I've respected most have a gap between stimulus and response. They pause. They ask a question. They get curious before they get decisive.
"What happened here?" lands differently than "Who dropped the ball?" "Help me understand your thinking" opens more than "That won't work." Curiosity isn't idle. It's a discipline.
When something goes wrong, our brains are quick to assign blame. It’s a survival mechanism. Humans process negative events as threats. The gut response to defend and protect ego.
Unless there really is a tiger (real or metaphorical), the temptation to react immediately is almost always suboptimal.
recruitThebest InstituteRecruitTheBest Daily Digest- Why Do Great Leaders Lead With Love?
‘Leading people is a lot like creating work family. There are joy and tears, fun and fears.’
‘Love matters. It matters because with all that we have learned with respect to phenomenal leadership approaches, models, and philosophies, we still fail.’
‘When we fail to recognize the human need and capacity to love, we fail as leaders.’
‘Love is the crucial component in our lives, and our very survival depends upon its presence.’
‘Leaders who love create environments of compassion and caring.’
‘When people in the workplace are bonded by love, they forged solid bonds with one another that keep them together.’
‘Love enhances the feeling of ‘us’ along with a sense of purpose.’
‘When love is present, when care for one another rules, and when there’s an abundance of empathy, organizations take on the very human qualities toward which we should all strive.’
‘Love knows no titles. And hanging our importance or stature on the title in front of our name serve no purpose other than to inflate our ego.’
‘We depend on one another.’
‘We need one another.’
Source:
Zina Sutch and Patrick Malone (2021). Leading with Love and Laughter: Letting Go and Getting Real at work
#Change #Compassion #Family #Growth #HealthAndWellBeing #LeadershipPhilosophy #LeadingOthers #Life #PersonalDevelopment #Philosophy #SelfLeadership #Success #Workplace #WorkplaceCreativity
Tariro MundawararaWhat To Do When You Get Triggered
Your triggers are not flaws. They are protective parts trying to keep you safe. This 12-day Insight Timer course helps you understand your triggers, meet the parts beneath them, and return to the grounded presence of Self. What To Do When You Get Triggered Now live on Insight Timer. 👉 #InsightTimer #PartsWork #EmotionalHealing #SelfLeadership #Mindfulness #HealingJourney #SelfAwareness #MeditationCourse from Tariro Mundawarara
https://tariromundawararayt.wordpress.com/2026/04/08/what-to-do-when-you-get-triggered/
