Truth, Lies & Work

# empathy

22 moments across 19 episodes. Click any moment to jump straight to that part of the episode.

20:19Empathy, active listening, and building connectionLeanne Elliott: I wanna ask you about the kind of the cluster of skills that came up, which I think listeners will be a bit more like, oh, that makes sense. You know, creativity and analytical thinking, it might be, mighEP 307 · 4 Jun 2026·interview· 20:19–29:386:10What people get wrong about autism: stereotypes and the empathy mythLeanne Elliott: And when people hear the word autism, what do they usually get wrong? Laura Dean: I think one of the biggest ones is sort of defaulting to those stereotypes of, um, you know, a greasy-haired boy in a, in EP 289 · 2 Apr 2026·interview· 6:10–9:0646:22Leadership, empathy, and looking inwardKelly Garthwaite: Well, I just, I was nodding. Furiously because I'm like, thank you for bringing up empathy and compassion because that is something that is so overlooked because it's not data points, it's not tangible.EP LIVE-2026-03-25 · 25 Mar 2026·panel interview· 46:22–53:047:37Story 2: Starbucks' fabricated empathy problemAl Elliott: Well, I was on Twitter. There's a woman called Minda Zetlin. Originally, I think I saw this in Inc.com, but I did a bit of digging. She writes for everything. She's pretty incredible. We have to get her on thEP 240 · 14 Oct 2025·news roundup· 7:37–13:0634:32How personal loss shaped Amy's leadership philosophyAl Elliott: I feel like that moment there has defined a lot of the way that you think about how leaders show up. So can you tell me what else do you think great leaders do that differentiates them from people who aren't EP 233 · 18 Sept 2025·interview· 34:32–42:452:15Story 1 — Empathsplaining: performative empathy in leadershipLeanne Elliott: Got a new word Al Elliott: Okay, tell me what the new word is and do I guess it? Leanne Elliott: Yeah, you do. YeahEP 214 · 15 Jul 2025·news roundup· 2:15–7:563:04Jeff's origin story — where the Engaged Empathy Leadership Model came fromJeff LeBlanc: Ultimately, the idea was what I was seeing from younger generations and frankly, anyone, not just younger generations. That just happened to be where my study was focused, is that I was really finding that,EP 207 · 19 Jun 2025·interview· 3:04–4:2131:31The velvet hammer — balancing accountability and empathyEric Stone: Well, I mean, again, I think you can balance it. I used to call it the velvet hammer. I write about it in the book. You can still have a tremendously high expectation and make sure you don't lower standards, EP 179 · 13 Mar 2025·interview· 31:31–33:4354:58Is empathy the key to leadership?Al Elliott: If we could mandate self-awareness, many of the problems would dissipate or be more easily managed. Great harm is done to other human beings by people who don't know themselves. Even greater harm is done to vEP 158 · 31 Dec 2024·other· 54:58–58:0222:56Nurturing the other person's point of view and first-time managersAl Elliott: Yeah Leanne Elliott: Rather than pushing to get what you want, actually to nurture the other person's point of view. And one of the things I teach on my course is conflict management, and we talk about the deEP 143 · 7 Nov 2024·other· 22:56–29:157:12Story 2: Do childless bosses lack empathy?Al Elliott: Childless people Leanne Elliott: Um, I believe it's childfree. Is that the more politically correct term? Al Elliott: I believe it is, but this article, which I will link to, it's in Forbes I think, was actuaEP 134 · 8 Oct 2024·news roundup· 7:12–11:480:33Empathy at scale in the digital ageAl Elliott: Nice. Check out hopspot.com, the agentic customer platform for growing businesses Peter Dorrington: And I think a lot of it comes down to trust. I'm not gonna abuse our relationship because trust arrives on fEP 98 · 16 May 2024·interview· 0:33–3:537:46What empathy at scale looks like in practiceAl Elliott: Tell me, what would a company or an organization look like who understood empathy at scale and were implementing systems— we'll come into that in a second— how would that compare to someone who has never hearEP 98 · 16 May 2024·interview· 7:46–10:4045:16The surprising role of empathyLeanne Elliott: Another aspect of leadership behavior and the culture that is critical to eliminating corporate bullshit and building a ministry of common sense is empathy Martin Lindstrom: But what it comes down to is tEP 59 · 5 Oct 2023·panel interview· 45:16–53:3341:33Pillar 3 — Empathy-based managementAl Elliott: So before we go on to number 3, can you just sum up for us flexible work experiences, Leigh? Leanne Elliott: Yeah, I think flexible work experience is about creating that flexibility responsibility for our peEP 54 · 31 Aug 2023·panel interview· 41:33–61:289:21Clip 1 — Dr. Candice Schaefer: empathy in layoffsAl Elliott: Um, but it's good. It's good. Anyway, so should we get on to the clips then? So do you wanna kick things off with your— one of your first favourite clips? Yes Leanne Elliott: My first clip is from Uh, the verEP 52 · 17 Aug 2023·other· 9:21–12:3043:57When an employee says 'I'm struggling' — empathy over fixingLeanne Elliott: I'm gonna throw that back to you as an experienced manager and coach. If you have an employee who is ex— who is either, you know, either you're observing unhappy feelings or more negative behaviors or hasEP 51 · 10 Aug 2023·other· 43:57–50:2073:25No. 4: Respect people's feelingsAl Elliott: And I think moving on from that, because it slides nicely into number 4, which is respecting people's feelings and preferences when it comes to physical contact. When I was a manager, when I had my first busiEP 34 · 12 Apr 2023·other· 73:25–75:2811:05Cognitive vs. emotional empathyLeanne Elliott: There is. There is a difference between— and I actually saw a really good graphic. I think it was on LinkedIn the other day. I can't remember if I saved it, but it's basically like kind of showing the difEP 25 · 8 Feb 2023·interview· 11:05–18:2046:55Tip 1 — Learn how to listenLeanne Elliott: If I understand what Sophie is saying, and in terms of, of empathy, and empathy being a leadership, um, superpower that we need in this new era. I guess it seems to follow for me that if we're removing thEP 25 · 8 Feb 2023·interview· 46:55–52:2060:00Sophie's final words on empathyLeanne Elliott: So I think Sophie really sums it up there. If we continue to resist this change of remote work, of hybrid work, of investing in development, in skills-based training, of making sure that we have the technEP 25 · 8 Feb 2023·interview· 60:00–63:2520:00Social relationships and empathy at workAl Elliott: Let me ask you then, because there's a fair bit in that article about social relationships, but as a manager or a leader, do I want to be friends with my employees? Do I want them to be friends with each otheEP 08 · 23 Aug 2022·other· 20:00–22:34

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