Only 1 month away from the birthday of The Empathy Dilemma! I am so excited to share with you the last pillar today – joy. What the heck does joy have to do with empathy or high performance? Well, joy is where many leaders get stuck. When we talk about joy at work, it means ensuring people enjoy their work, encouraging work friendships, and creating a thriving culture, even when the work itself is challenging. Today, I break down how joy benefits teams and leaders, ways you can incorporate intentional joy into your organization every day, and give key strategies for finding success in your empathetic joy journey.
To access this episode transcript, please scroll down below.
Key Takeaways:
- Joy in the workplace does not mean following your bliss at every moment. It means ensuring people enjoy their work, encouraging work friendships, and creating a thriving culture, even when the work itself is challenging.
- Learn improv skills to help teams collaborate in virtually any environment. They teach you how to think on your feet, listen well, pass the ball, and even laugh at unexpected outcomes that lead to innovation.
- Team building, when done properly, can be a source of joy and can transform interpersonal dynamics for the better when your internal culture is already serving the needs of your people.
“The ability to laugh at ourselves and find humor in tough situations is a sure sign of resilience, which is just what healthy teams need – things can and will go wrong. But when we stop taking ourselves so seriously, we can engage our prefrontal cortex to problem solve more effectively.”
— Maria Ross
Episode References:
The Empathy Edge podcast: Rebecca Friese: How to Build a “Good” Culture: https://red-slice.com/the-empathy-edge/rebecca-friese-how-to-build-a-good-culture/
Join the community and discover what empathy can do for you: http://red-slice.com
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FULL TRANSCRIPT BELOW:
Welcome to the empathy edge podcast the show that proves why cash flow creativity and compassion are not mutually exclusive. I’m your host Maria Ross. I’m a speaker, author, mom, facilitator and empathy advocate. And here you’ll meet trailblazing leaders and executives, authors and experts who embrace empathy to achieve radical success. We discuss all facets of empathy from trends and research to the future of work to how to heal societal divisions and collaborate more effectively. Our goal is to redefine success and prove that empathy isn’t just good for society. It’s great for business. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the August hot take with me your host Maria Ross, can you believe we are a month away from the birthday of the empathy dilemma how successful leaders balanced performance people and personal boundaries, it hits shelves, September 10, designed to help leaders like you dedicated to people centered practices, get the best performance possible, and balance the demands of the business with the needs of your people. And I am so excited to share it with you. And if you’ve been with me, you know, I’ve been devoting a hot take episode in the months leading up to launch to one of the five core pillars of effective empathetic leaders outlined in the book. Because the reality is that we want a more human centered workplace culture, but we have to actually get work done. And you can do both. You can be empathetic and high performing empathetic and accountable. Both and not either or so today we’re diving into the last pillar, pillar five, joy, probably my most head turning one. What the heck does Joy have to do with empathy or high performance quickly followed by I’m awkward and not that funny. But before we dive into the last pillar, I have one last reminder about my special preorder price discount because it’s ending August 27. Purchase one to 99 copies at porch light my amazing bulk distributor and get 30% off until August 27. Order your copies now submit your receipt to get special presale offers, I’ll put the links in the show notes. And those presale offers include an exclusive invite to a VIP launch event online, I could maybe crash your next meeting for an empathy discussion. Or you can enjoy discounted workshops or talks for a limited time, just go to bit.ly/empathy presale, and I will put that link in the show notes. So as I’ve mentioned before, this book is the direct result of all the feedback I’ve gotten from leaders actually leaders and people at all levels in the organization. From the keynotes that I’ve done from the leadership trainings that I’ve done, from the company ERG talks, and hundreds of energy interviews on this podcast. And they all say many of them say I should say that they’re on board with this. But here is where empathetic leader is leadership is challenging. Here’s where I get stuck. And that’s usually due to the either or thinking I mentioned earlier. So that’s where the five pillars come in. They are common traits and behaviors across the successful empathetic leaders I’ve interviewed spoken to trained, advised studied. It’s how I see them balancing people performance and personal boundaries with such grace and dexterity. So joy is the fifth and final pillar of effective and empathetic leadership. So let’s dig into it. Joy, what is joy? What are we talking about? When we talk about joy at work, it means ensuring people enjoy their work, encouraging work friendships, and creating a thriving culture, even when the work itself is challenging. I’m going to talk about this more later. It doesn’t mean every second of every work day you are doing something you love, you are following your bliss. That’s not what we’re talking about here. Why is joy important? A joyful work culture breeds trust to collaborate, innovate and take risks. It empowers people to have each other’s backs. Multiple studies have shown that when people enjoy their work, it leads to lower rates of turnover, higher productivity and engagement, increased company profits. Ooh, that sounds good, and loyalty to the employer. Now we all know we that we feel lighter and more buoyed by a work environment that we like going back to it’s basic common sense. I’m going to show up if I like being there mentally and physically. And if I enjoy my colleagues and feel safe and motivated in my environment, my work will reflect that. Now again, Joy does not mean every moment of work is joyful. I mean, I don’t particularly find joy in client crisis or invoicing or budget spreadsheets. but actually some of you might, joy or levity or camaraderie, as part of the empathetic culture equation means I can find joy in the work, even when the work itself is not joyful, as it will inevitably be at certain points, or they wouldn’t call it work. So what does Joy have to do with empathy? You may be thinking, well, when we create a joy filled environment, people can relax, be themselves and share themselves as human beings. This leads to better understanding and collaboration. If I get to know you through joy, I can understand where you’re coming from. I can forgive your bad days, and you can forgive mine. We can learn to listen and seek common ground because we have shared positive experiences, all the ingredients of an empathetic culture. So how does Joy benefit leaders? So many ways, Joy reduces stress, we can show up and laugh, smile bring a little levity to what can be hard work. And as many of us know, happy team members are easier to lead and fun environments foster trust and collaboration that breeds innovation and high performance. Now, I have to pause and give a caveat here. We’re not talking about what my good friend Rebecca Frese of Flynn consulting calls, calls fungineer ing. That is when you just pull out the foosball tables and the free beer on Fridays, and expect that to solve all your engagement problems. Those things are fun, they can be fun to some people, not everyone. But we’re not talking about just throwing those perks at people and leaving it as at that. If there’s no levity and joy in the way we interact with each other, if the culture itself doesn’t feel psychologically safe, because there’s no joy than all the foosball tables in the world won’t save you. And something I’ve seen time and time again throughout my long career is that I can do great work within even dismal overall corporate environments. If my immediate team, the people I work with day in and day out, create a joyful atmosphere. I’m also thinking about particular projects I worked on that were hard ruling, but made better and more memorable and more successful. As a result of joy being added to the mix. I share one of these great stories about one of the hardest projects in my career of global multi city roadshow and how to this day we all laugh and smile about it because we made time for intentional Joy along the way. So the million dollar question, how can you incorporate more joy in your team and workplace culture? Well, the first strategy is to find and encourage humor. The ability to laugh at ourselves and find humor in tough situations is a sure sign of resilience, which is just what healthy teams need, things can and will go wrong. But when we stop taking ourselves so seriously, we can engage our prefrontal cortex to problem solve more effectively. No, you don’t have to be a comedian or even for set, but letting people know it’s okay to laugh, share memes or talk about the latest celebrity gossip while getting work done. All of that goes a long way to making work a place we want to be. Some great examples are in the book about how some leaders allow moments to organically arise, and the team turns those into inside jokes or casual rituals. The next strategy is learn improv skills to nurture creativity and trust. Improv best practices can help teams collaborate in virtually any environment, learning how to think on your feet, listen well and pass the ball. And yes even laugh at the outcomes can unleash trust that leads to innovation. The next strategy, encourage workplace friendships. Now, this is my favorite as someone who has met some of my lifelong best friends at work, and also my husband, the old rules about your work self and your personal self. And I’m using air quotes here that you can’t see, have gone out the window. We are who we are, and we bring who we are to work. I’m not saying let it all hang out or act crassly, but it’s okay to get personal, it should even be encouraged. Mountains of research indicate that having friends in the workplace doesn’t only boost job satisfaction and performance. It also improves wellness. It’s linked to a lower risk of burnout, improved mental health, and maybe even a longer lifespan. According to studies conducted across Europe and Israel. As a leader. It’s your role to foster a culture of warmth and connection so your team members know that work friendships are encouraged. The next strategy make meaningful team building a priority. Okay, so one time long ago, I joined a rather soulless tech firm, drab brown cubicles, high walls and its share of quirky personnel. Ladies, and it truly channeled the movie Office Space. If you haven’t seen it, go see it right away. When if you want to lessen and joyless work environments, because in my first week, everyone was dragged to the conference room to sing Happy Birthday to an executive, and it was utterly depressing. No one wanted to be there. And I bet you’re thinking of a required happy hour, or maybe a ropes course, where you felt the same way. Team building has gotten a bad rap over the years as a cheesy forced way to forge bonds. But when it’s done thoughtfully, it can totally transform interpersonal dynamics for the better. Before you pursue team building. Make sure that your internal culture is already serving the needs of your people. Team building should be a source of shared joy, not a bandage slapped onto a festering cultural issue. Find ways to get everyone involved in suggesting activities, doing community service projects, and ensuring that a variety of options are accessible to everyone, regardless of level ability, neurodiversity, whether they have to get home to kids or not. Or maybe they’re recovering alcoholics. When you can tie team building to your company mission. That is the best experience for everyone to forge bonds and get to know each other outside of work. As I wind down on sharing the high level five pillars of effective empathetic leadership. I would also like to make something else crystal clear. These pillars are not the sole responsibility of the leader. It is not all on your shoulders to build up the pillars of self awareness, self care, clarity, decisiveness and joy. These are pillars you can introduce, model, practice, and cultivate the environment. But share the load with your team. Have them make suggestions, take on aspects that may be a challenging blind spot for you, and practice this with each other. I would hate for leaders to think I’m just adding more to their burden. When we talk about the five pillars that ensure effective empathetic leadership. Yes, we’re talking about your own personal pillars. But the team pillars can and should be strengthened and upheld by everyone involved them in the process. Be transparent about what you’re trying to do and work on. Let them play a role so they have ownership and engagement. And when you do that, you’ll nurture an empathetic environment that flows in both directions. Now to better understand these deceptively simple strategies in detail, please check out the empathy dilemma for stories from leaders and actionable tactics. To put each of these strategies into practice. These five pillars will transform how your team engages, performs, innovates delivers for you and your customers. Remember to check out more about the book and the link to the presale bonuses at the empathy dilemma.com Thank you so much for being here with me to review the heartaches of the five pillars. I truly hope you will check out the book, leverage it, use it with your team, enable yourself to take care of yourself while also leading other people. This has been such a pleasure to present these five pillars as a sneak peek for you over the course of the last few months. And again, check out the book and grab your copy today. Until next time, remember that cash flow creativity and compassion are not mutually exclusive. Take care, and be kind. For more on how to achieve radical success through empathy, visit the empathy edge.com. There you can listen to past episodes, access shownotes and free resources. Book me for a Keynote or workshop and sign up for our email list to get new episodes insights, news and events. Please follow me on Instagram at Red slice Maria. Never forget empathy is your superpower. Use it to make your work and the world a better place.
