What a year last week was!?!

The first full work week of 2021 began with the excitement of a new year, a clean slate. Sure, many of us were a bit tired and out of our routines after the holidays, but all-in-all, the energy was upbeat. Then Wednesday’s hostile takeover of the United States Capitol in Washington D.C. occurred.

The week changed. Our time management, conversations, focus, and energy in and out of work changed.

As leaders, you may have intended to kick off 2021 a certain way but had to adjust.

🔷 Did the way your company shows empathy change over the course of the week?
🔷 When you think about how the "company" shows empathy, who are you thinking about?
🔷 What have your leaders done to show empathy in the last week?
🔷 What have you done to show empathy for your coworkers? Yourself?

All of that, and more, was part of the #CultureMatters live conversation January 8th. We talk about issues and ideas that impact culture each month, and we bring them back to business.

As facilitators of the monthly Culture Matters forum, Kathy Holmes and I chose to start the year with empathy because it aligns with the values of our #culturematters friends.

When companies value empathy, it shows in how they treat people and goes further into how they make decisions, prioritize, innovate, and more.

A company that tells people to leave their emotions at home and just keep their mouths shut, for example, shows it does not care about its people. Back in the old days, that command-and-control style of leadership was rarely questioned. People did their jobs and went home.

Now, however, that company would struggle to stay alive. A company who treats people that way would struggle with collaboration needed for innovation, along with retention of employees and customers. Makes sense, right?

The research is clear: people want to work for companies and leaders who care about them. Companies who develop empathy gain a strategic advantage for retention of employees and customers.

Empathy is worth attention. Plus, it is a nice, basic value.

Join the Culture Matters conversations via Zoom each month and on LinkedIn. All are welcome!