Leaders, listen up: Have you ever heard the improv maxim, “Yes, and….?”
In my work researching, writing, and speaking to audiences about the power of empathy, a magnet has pulled me to one notion that gets in the way in almost every dysfunctional workplace or societal conversation.
Let me explain…
To access this episode transcript, please scroll down below.
Key Takeaways:
- Our brains both defend us and hold us back due to cognitive dissonance. We want only one thing to be true because it is more simple, but simplicity is not always the answer.
- Either/or thinking is broken and got us, as a society, into our current mess.
- Dialectics is understanding we can hold two, seemingly contradictory things, to be true at the same time. It is a concept that will strengthen our businesses and our lives outside of work.
“In our world and workplaces today, it no longer serves us to focus on either/or thinking. We must embrace BOTH/AND.” — Maria Ross
Episode References:
- Improv’s famous “Yes, and…”
- Discover more about the power of empathy and how to apply it to make a difference in your work and life at your organization or event!
- Psychology Today, Cognitive Dissonance: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/cognitive-dissonance
- Seeing things differently: Red Slice blog, Representation Matters: https://www.red-slice.com/representation-matters/
- Red Slice blog, What Leadership Success Requires in Today’s World: https://www.red-slice.com/what-leadership-success-requires-in-todays-world/
- Behavioral Psych Studio, What the heck is a dialectic? https://behavioralpsychstudio.com/what-the-heck-is-a-dialectic/
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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. Quick offer for you. Listen up all your marketers, business owners, entrepreneurs, all of you trying to connect and engage with an audience to grow your impact and revenue. I’m all about strengthening empathy to achieve radical success. And this all started for me in my wheelhouse of marketing. See, I realized the key to attracting and engaging the right customers is all about understanding them seeing things from their point of view, empathy is a marketers superpower if it’s wielded responsibly. So after running two successful real time cohorts, I now opening up my brand story breakthrough course as an on demand offering. Take it when you want how you want for as long as you want five modules of videos and playbooks designed to help you articulate your goals. Understand your customers, define your different and land on your perfect brand story and marketing message. So you stand out and attract that perfect fit audience. Marketing is not about lying to people. It’s about empathy, elevating the truth of your story. And in this on demand course, you’ll learn the exact steps that my past brand clients have gone through to craft a clear and compelling and consistent brand message that guides everything you do. You’ll walk away with a brand story strategy, ideal customer profiles, and even website and social media profile copy. Plus, with this on demand course you get access to weekly Friday office hours with me. Yep, ask questions, get feedback, share new memes, discover new insights to help your business shine. It’s insanely cost effective and extremely valuable to your business and goals. So check out the details@bit.ly slash BSB course. That’s bi T dot L y slash V sb course, or click the link in the show notes. See you on the other side.
Leaders listen up. Have you ever heard the improv Maxim? Yes. And? Well in my research, writing and speaking to audiences about the power of empathy, a magnet has pulled me to one notion that gets in the way of almost every dysfunctional workplace or societal conversation. Let me explain. Our brains seem to defend us yet often hold us back due to cognitive dissonance. I’ll link to an article in Psychology Today. But from that article, here’s the description. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people are averse to inconsistencies within their own minds. It offers one explanation for why people sometimes make an effort to adjust their thinking when their own thoughts, words or behaviors seem to clash with each other. But simply, it is less distressing to us to hold one single view in our thinking. We want this one thing to be true or this one other thing, but we refuse to believe they can possibly be both. We crave simplicity. But as we know, life is not always that simple. Others see things differently based on their own experiences, worldviews, philosophies and personalities. contradictions have bound, so call it either or thinking or binary thinking but any way you slice it. This approach can lead to division, stress, mental health crises, families being ripped apart the destruction of our planet, not to mention how it stifles creativity, innovation and collaboration at work. The either or approach to leadership and relationships is broken. It got us into our current mess. It’s not working for us, as leadership paradigm shift in the new era of work and as society demands more collaboration for its own survival, we are called to embrace what are called dialectics. And again, I will link to a great article in the show notes. But from that article, dialectics is a worldview that stresses that reality is made up of polarities. Two things, regardless of whether they are holy opposites can exist at the same time, simply dialectics is understanding that we can hold two seemingly contradictory things to be true at the same time, we’re very smart that way. So we can be empathetic and high performing. We can be compassionate and competitive, we can be kind and ambitious. We can be empathetic leaders and still make tough business decisions. We can care about our people and still hold our personal boundaries. We can be stewards of the environment and still reap financial rewards. We can turn to alternative energy and rescale our people, we can marry purpose with profit, and we can deliver great results and do right by our teams. And when we extrapolate this concept out to our lives outside of work, we can disagree and love each other, or at least respect each other. We can care deeply and have to let go. We can care about the collective and also prosper individually. We can enjoy nice things and still be good to the environment. We can be gentle, but still get our point across. We can guide behavior without abuse or shame. And we can both be right. Now the question is, how will we move forward? In our world and workplaces today? It no longer serves us to focus on either or thinking we must embrace both and think about all the innovations your organization is missing out on because your leaders are clinging to command and control leadership, never leaving the door open to new perspectives, insights, information or possibilities. We have the capacity to hold two things to be true at the same time. It just may take practice for your organization for our world. It’s time we embrace the power of both and abundant, inclusive both and thinking will get us out of our current dysfunction. Are you ready though? Are you ready to see what’s possible? I truly hope you are. Thank you so much for listening to this special hot take episode for January 2024 of the empathy edge podcast. If you liked what you heard, please share it with a friend or a colleague. And don’t forget to rate and review. And until next time, remember that cash flow creativity and compassion are not mutually exclusive. Both and 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.
