The Pulse of Your People: Optimizing Workplace Support During Crisis and COVID Handle with Care: Empathy at Work

Nick Smarrelli But at the end of it, you know, you can't be listening to the reality. It can't be you can't be talking about how fantastic things are when things don't feel fantastic because then you lose all credibility and that's what people want. I think in leadership these days.
 
I can get really snarky when technology is not working well for me…just ask my family.  Chromecast under functioning, the link refusing to load.  All of it can seem like a lot.  But the biggest frustrations come when the technology that I need for work isn’t WORKING.  So, when I call the support desk, I am bringing a lot to that interaction. 
 
My guest today is Nick Smarelli, he is the CEO of GadellNet Consulting and a big part of what his team does is troubleshoot those complex, frustrating tech calls.  Nick is talking today about how he keeps his staff engaged, supporting their well-being in the midst of a pandemic, giving them what they need so they can give the customers what they need. 
 
Nick is open, insightful, and has great tips for anyone who is leading through a time of crisis and I anticipate that you will get as much out of the interaction as I did!
 
First, a little bit more about Nick.  Nick joined GadellNet in 2010 after working with Ingersoll Rand.  He studied psychology and finance as an undergrad and, I love this line from his bio, “Nick views all business decisions from the lens of blending both humanity and fiscal responsibility to achieve incredible outcomes.”  And I think you will hear that impulse in his interview. 
 
GadellNet grew over his 10 tenure, from 4 employees to 150 across three states.  GadellNet has also earned honors as an Inc. “Best Places to Work”.
 
Nick is an ultramarathon runner, a father of three, a spouse of over 12 years, and an avid supporter of the community.  Nick has a podcast, “Zero Excuses”, where I had the pleasure of being a recent guest, where he speaks to guests on the power of the human potential – and how to live a self-accountable life.  He is currently pursuing his Masters Degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology from Harvard University.
 
We began our conversation talking about early morning workouts.  Nick is often up in the wee hours of the morning to exercise or to get work done, which feel slike a necessity at this stage of life as he is also a parent and a husband. 
 
Liesel Mertes I was I was a rower in college. I was on the crew team. So I'm no stranger to like the four. Forty five am waiting approval.
 
- Nick Smarrelli I'm getting up in the morning.
 
- Liesel Mertes Yeah. Were you always a morning person or did you come to that with your like athletic pursuits.
 
- Nick Smarrelli I would say I am never been a morning person. I, I don't know if I am right now. Frankly it is not, it is not my default by any stretch. But I think by virtue of athletic pursuits, work commitments, usually speaking, there's just a lot of work to process and I find mornings to be really solid for that. It's again, after having kids, that is my lone moments of reasonably energized solitude. You know, certainly the kids go to bed, but by the time bedtime happens, I'm spent.
 
- Nick Smarrelli I'm not enjoying that moment. So carving out that morning space has given me a little bit of of time to have and be, I would say, selfish. That's my selfish time. That's my how. Take care of my body. Take care of my mind. Take care of a little bit of work so that when the kids wake up and my wife wakes up, I'm in a place and they're going to get the best of forty five minutes of me before the cycle starts again with, with kind of a normal workday.
 
- Nick Smarrelli So that's, that's really where I use that selfish time because I feel like the rest of the day is kind of committed to your pursuits outside of just myself.
 
- Liesel Mertes Totally. Well and I like that turn of phrase and the differentiation between energized versus d