191 episodes

Failed product launches. Furious customers. Dysfunctional teams. Many of the problems we face in the business world (and frankly, society) stem from the same root cause: Lack of empathy.

Speaker, author, strategist, and empathy advocate Maria Ross shares keen insights and inspiring interviews that prove empathy and compassion are the new paths to market-winning performance. Leveraging both inspiring stories and hard data, Ross connects empathetic leadership, cultures and brands to innovation, engagement, and bottom-line results. You’ll walk away with actionable strategies to amplify your impact, and learn how compassionate business tactics can transform your organization from the inside out.

The Empathy Edge podcast provides a quick dose of motivation, wisdom, and practical actions that executive leaders, entrepreneurs and changemakers can use right now. Ready to infuse YOUR organization with more empathy? Tune in to learn why cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive.

The Empathy Edge Maria Ross

    • Business
    • 4.9 • 52 Ratings

Failed product launches. Furious customers. Dysfunctional teams. Many of the problems we face in the business world (and frankly, society) stem from the same root cause: Lack of empathy.

Speaker, author, strategist, and empathy advocate Maria Ross shares keen insights and inspiring interviews that prove empathy and compassion are the new paths to market-winning performance. Leveraging both inspiring stories and hard data, Ross connects empathetic leadership, cultures and brands to innovation, engagement, and bottom-line results. You’ll walk away with actionable strategies to amplify your impact, and learn how compassionate business tactics can transform your organization from the inside out.

The Empathy Edge podcast provides a quick dose of motivation, wisdom, and practical actions that executive leaders, entrepreneurs and changemakers can use right now. Ready to infuse YOUR organization with more empathy? Tune in to learn why cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive.

    Shizu Okusa: From Wall Street to Wellness: How One Entrepreneur Built Empathy Into Her Success

    Shizu Okusa: From Wall Street to Wellness: How One Entrepreneur Built Empathy Into Her Success

    I've often said that many entrepreneurs get their business ideas from practicing empathy. From either experiencing a pain point themselves or wanting to solve a pain or provide a benefit to an audience who needs it. Today, we talk to one such start-up entrepreneur, Shizu Okusa, the Founder and CEO of wellness company Apothékary.

    Today, Shizu shares her entrepreneurial journey from Wall Street to wellness, and how many of  her leadership and product philosophies are inspired by her Japanese heritage. We discuss why self-awareness is key for founders to be successful for the long haul and specific examples of how Apothékary creates an empathetic culture devoted to her employees' and customers' well-being. We discuss the number one reason many leaders can't embrace empathy - to their own detriment. And Shizu shares how they gather customer feedback as well as how they make remote work more personal and collaborative. Finally, Shizu offers her advice to other leaders and entrepreneurs looking to lead with empathy. 
     
    To access the episode transcript, please click on the episode title at www.TheEmpathyEdge.com 

    Key Takeaways:
    Self-awareness is key to being an effective leader. You can’t have the space in your brain for empathy, creativity, and listening if you don’t know where you are at. Rather than having a maximum number of vacation days, consider setting a minimum number of vacation days to support your team and encourage them to take care of themselves. Empathy is consumer psychology in the business world. It is sometimes seen as a soft skill, but compassion and business success are not mutually exclusive.Surveys are a great way to gather information from your customers, but if you don’t take action on that data, that data is wasted.  
    "The CEO’s job is to provide the healthy oxygen for your team to breathe in." —  Shizu Okusa

    Episode References: 
    The Ranch, Malibu, California
    The Empathy Edge podcast episodes referenced:
    Melina Palmer: Why Your Customers Can’t Tell You What They WantCarrie Melissa Jones: Building Successful CommunitiesEmily Vernon: Are You Gathering the Right Customer Insights?Aransas Savas: Forget Journey Mapping: Define a More Valuable Customer ExperienceSandy Thompson: How to Make People Fall in Love with Your Brand
    Brand Story Breakthrough course to help you craft a clear, compelling brand story  - includes weekly office hours with Maria!

    About Shizu Okusa, Founder and CEO, Apothékary

    Shizu Okusa is a Wall Street alum-turned-wellness entrepreneur. After leaving an intense finance career, she became inspired to live a more balanced lifestyle and revisit her Japanese roots and passion for herbal medicine. Shizu set out to help others regain their holistic health using traditions she grew up with and ones she learned along the way. Now, she proudly leads Apothékary in its mission to deliver natural herbal remedies that get to the root cause of health issues rather than masking the symptoms.

    Connect with Shizu Okusa:  
    Apothékary: https://www.apothekary.co/ 
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shizu-okusa-87a25415 
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/apothekaryco/ 
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apothekaryco/ 
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUlZ43PITt9RsTJNZX1F6JQ 

    Join the tribe, download your free guide! Discover what empathy can do for you: http://red-slice.com/business-benefits-empathy
     
    Connect with Maria: 
    Get the podcast and book: TheEmpathyEdge.com
    Learn more about Maria and her work: Red-Slice.com
    Hire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-Ross
    Take my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with Empathy
    LinkedIn: Maria Ross
    Instagram: @redslicemaria
    X: @redslice
    Facebook: Red Slice
    Threads: @redslicemaria

    • 41 min
    Amy J. Wilson: How to Heal from Burnout to Embrace Empathy

    Amy J. Wilson: How to Heal from Burnout to Embrace Empathy

    Burnout is one of our biggest workplace challenges. Turnover and lost productivity due to burnout cost businesses $322B globally. Voluntary turnover costs 15+% of a company’s payroll annually. Most employees will seek out workplaces that support mental health in the future, showing the importance of these benefits in employee retention.
    Today, I chat with Amy J. Wilson. We talk about how burnout is the biggest obstacle blocking us from empathy, what burnout is and its symptoms, where it comes from, and how it is especially a challenge in traditional care professions but can impact any of us in any organization. We discuss the difference between compassion fatigue and empathic distress. Amy also shares the Four Rs framework for healing from and preventing burnout.
     
    To access the episode transcript, please click on the episode title at www.TheEmpathyEdge.com 

    Key Takeaways:
    Burnout is preventing people from feeling empathy. It applies blinders that keep people from connecting with those around them. Modeling is more effective than telling. You can model empathic behavior even in the face of adversity. Curiosity is the first step in empathy. Burnout stops us from making that connection with someone else’s and their story. 
    "People think of burnout as a mental health condition, but it isn't defined as a mental health condition as currently in the DSM. I think it has an origin in our own personal abilities and conditioned responses,  but at the same time, it is a product of the system around us that often prioritizes profit over people." —  Amy J. Wilson

     
    Episode References: 
    The Empathy Edge: Amy J. Wilson: Leadership’s Larger Duty And Avoiding Empathy Deficit DisorderJamie Greenwood: Why Empathy for Others Starts with Compassion for YourselfArticles on empathic distress:Rob Volpe: “Which Is It? Empathic Distress or Compassion Fatigue?”Adam Grant: "That Numbness You're Feeling? There's a Word for It"Amy J. Wilson: “What Makes Us Human”
    Brand Story Breakthrough course to help you craft a clear, compelling brand story  - includes weekly office hours with Maria!

    About Amy J Wilson, Founder and Guide, Healing for Work
    Amy J. Wilson believes in the power within each of us to shape the future we want to have—a future with more awareness, compassion, connection, and love. They specialize in building and sustaining compassionate cultures that can hold change so that individuals and the organization can thrive. They have challenged the status quo and redesigned systems centered on empathy and equity in action at more than a dozen organizations with thousands of people within the private and public sectors. Amy is the bestselling author of Empathy for Change: How to Build a More Understanding World with language and frameworks to evolve individuals and organizations to meet the realities of today and reimagine a better way forward. 
    Amy founded Healing for Work, a community and program rooted in scientifically-proven ways for individuals to overcome burnout and improve workplace well-being. Through the Empathy Action Lab, they work with ambitious, purpose-driven organizations or entrepreneurs to design communities & movements with more empathy, to tell powerful stories, and to advance collective action.


    Connect with Amy J. Wilson:  
    Empathy for Change | Healing for Work: healingforwork.com 
    LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/healing-for-work 
    Instagram: instagram.com/healingforwork/ 

    Learn more about Amy’s FREE Burnout Support Sessions at: healingforwork.com/join 
    Join the tribe, download your free guide! Discover what empathy can do for you: red-slice.com/business-benefits-empathy
     
    Connect with Maria: 
    Get the podcast and book: TheEmpathyEdge.com
    Learn more about Maria and her work: Red-Slice.com
    Hire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-Ross
    Take my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with Empathy
    LinkedIn: Maria Ross
    Instagram: @redslicemaria
    X: @redslice
    Facebook: R

    • 37 min
    Alain Hunkins: Cracking the Leadership Code

    Alain Hunkins: Cracking the Leadership Code

    We are experiencing a transformation, an evolution in how we lead and what makes a successful leader. Today, I had a great conversation with Alain Hunkins, CEO and author of Cracking The Leadership Code: Three Secrets to Building Strong Leaders about the common leadership assumptions that can get people into trouble, the obstacles we face in how to connect, the three secrets of strong leaders, and how we can communicate better. He shares the story of how one leader went from being ranked at the bottom to achieving outstanding results by focusing on people first before the numbers and the work.

    Alain and I discuss what gets in the way of empathy, the role transparency plays in killing the old leadership paradigm, how employees got to the point that they have such low confidence in their leaders - and what we can do to reverse that - and he'll also share a great trick to ensure you are communicating effectively. 
     
    To access the episode transcript, please click on the episode title at www.TheEmpathyEdge.com 

    Key Takeaways:
    Studies show we judge ourselves by our intentions, but others by their actions. The old model of command and control leadership is a dying paradigm. Leadership must evolve - all leaders are now living in a glass house with the technology available. We no longer live in a world of information asymmetry. Numbers are neat and tidy, people are not. To lead people, you have to make the time to connect with your team empathetically not just look at the business numbers.Ask for a receipt in your communication. It doesn’t take much time, but it does increase understanding and clarity. 

    "All leadership development is personal development, and all personal development is leadership development. Whether or not you have the job title, we all lead every single day." —  Alain Hunkins

    Brand Story Breakthrough course to help you craft a clear, compelling brand story  - includes weekly office hours with Maria!

    About Alain Hunkins, CEO and Author, Cracking the Leadership Code

    Alain Hunkins helps leaders, teams, and companies achieve performance goals easier.     

    Over his twenty-five-year career, Alain has worked with over 3,000 groups of leaders in 27 countries, including 42 of the Fortune 100 companies. In addition to being an executive coach, leadership and team development facilitator and keynote speaker, Alain is the author of the book Cracking The Leadership Code: Three Secrets to Building Strong Leaders.

    Alain is a faculty member of Duke Corporate Education and serves on the Academic Board of Advisors for the New Delhi Institute of Management. Alain’s work has been featured in Chief Executive, Fast Company, Inc., Training Magazine, Chief Learning Officer, and Business Insider. He’s also a monthly leadership strategy contributor to Forbes Magazine.  Alain was recently named #33 on the Global Power list of the Top 200 Biggest Voices in Leadership for 2023 by LeadersHum.  A father of two teenagers, he lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.

    Connect with Alain Hunkins
    Hunkins Leadership Group: https://alainhunkins.com/ 
    LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/alainhunkins/ 

    Join the 30-Day Leadership Challenge! https://alainhunkins.com/30-day-leadership-challenge/ 

    Join the tribe, download your free guide! Discover what empathy can do for you: http://red-slice.com/business-benefits-empathy
     
    Connect with Maria: 
    Get the podcast and book: TheEmpathyEdge.com
    Learn more about Maria and her work: Red-Slice.com
    Hire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-Ross
    Take my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with Empathy
    LinkedIn: Maria Ross
    Instagram: @redslicemaria
    X: @redslice
    Facebook: Red Slice
    Threads: @redslicemaria

    • 46 min
    Michael Bungay Stanier: How to Work with (Almost) Anyone

    Michael Bungay Stanier: How to Work with (Almost) Anyone

    Empathy is a superpower, yes, but what about those people you just truly believe are unbearable to work or talk with? I know someone is coming to mind for you. And how much more complicated does it get when you work for that someone, or they work for you?

    Today, I am delighted to share my conversation with leadership coach, speaker, and best-selling author Michael Bungay Stanier. Michael and I talked about the difference between leadership and coaching and the role empathy and curiosity play in those skills, why so many leaders misunderstand what coaching means, why rescuers create victims and the importance of learning how to listen. He shares the key to having Keystone Conversations to create a better working relationship. And he shares five questions that will help you build the best possible relationship with almost anyone - and why he says "almost!" Plus, we had a love fest for our mutual publisher, Page Two. Michael is a legend and as kind and generous as they come. Take a listen.
     
    To access the episode transcript, please click on the episode title at www.TheEmpathyEdge.com 

    Key Takeaways:
    There are six different leadership styles, and the greatest leaders know how to utilize each of them at the appropriate times. If you're a leader, your job is to help figure out what the right stuff is to work on, and then help get the best people to do their best work working on the stuff that matters.Rescuer behavior appears to be empathetic and kind, but it’s actually being nosy and it hurts more than it help others in adult-to-adult relationships. You are doing the work of leading when you’re doing the work of self-care and self-reflection. 

    "I do believe…that every working relationship can be better. If you could make all of them 10-15% better, that would make a difference, because not just your success at work, but your happiness at work is dependent on the quality of your working relationships." —  Michael Bungay Stanier

    Episode References: 
    The Empathy Edge podcast: Shasta Nelson: Why Successful Leaders Encourage Work FriendshipsAccountability and Empathy (Are Not Mutually Exclusive) by Ed BatistaPage Two Publishing
    Brand Story Breakthrough course to help you craft a clear, compelling brand story  - includes weekly office hours with Maria!

    About Michael Bungay Stanier:
    Michael Bungay Stanier is best known for The Coaching Habit, the best-selling coaching book of the century and recognized as a classic. His most recent book, How to Work with (Almost) Anyone, shows how to build the Best Possible Relationship with the key people at work. Michael was a Rhodes Scholar, and was recently awarded the coaching prize by Thinkers50, “the Oscars of Management.”

    Connect with Michael Bungay Stanier:  
    MBS.works: https://www.mbs.works/ 
    X: https://www.twitter.com/mbs_works 
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelbungaystanier 
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mbs_works-113849977032317 
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mbs_works 

    Book: How to Work with (Almost) Anyone: Five Questions for Building the Best Possible Relationships

    Check out a FREE Video example of Michael’s Keystone Conversation at: https://bestpossiblerelationship.com/ 

    Join the tribe, download your free guide! Discover what empathy can do for you: http://red-slice.com/business-benefits-empathy
     
    Connect with Maria: 
    Get the podcast and book: TheEmpathyEdge.com
    Learn more about Maria and her work: Red-Slice.com
    Hire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-Ross
    Take my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with Empathy
    LinkedIn: Maria Ross
    Instagram: @redslicemaria
    X: @redslice
    Facebook: Red Slice
    Threads: @redslicemaria

    • 46 min
    February Hot Take: How Marty Maraschino Taught Me Resilience

    February Hot Take: How Marty Maraschino Taught Me Resilience

    Resilience might be eligible for word of the year. You hear it everywhere you go. We talked a lot about resilience during the Pandemic. How do we bounce back and adapt?

    One definition of resilience is “The capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.”

    Clearly, we need to embrace resilience as human beings. In a chaotic, unpredictable world where the only constant is change, you might drive yourself mad if you cannot adapt.

    But more importantly, how is the skill of resilience strengthened, taught, or learned?

    Today I share two examples from my childhood on how I learned resilience that I hope will not only enlighten you, but entertain you. (HINT: One involves my theater geek high school days!)
     
    To access the episode transcript, please click on the episode title at www.TheEmpathyEdge.com 

    Key Takeaways:
    Practice having a growth mindset - it is not about being externally praised, it is about your innate desire to practice and improve and look at what can be tweaked to change the outcome on your next attempt. Learn from those losses in your life. You can process the grief of losing but still embrace the opportunities in front of you. Try anyway! Even if you don’t have all of the boxes checked for whatever you’re aiming to do, try anyway, you may surprise yourself with what you do accomplish.  
    I learned from moments like that to process my grief over what I'd lost, but embrace what was in front of me - and make it my own. —  Maria Ross
     
    Episode References: 
    Dinah Manoff from Grease: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001503/ Growth Mindset: https://hbr.org/2016/01/what-having-a-growth-mindset-actually-means#Hypewomen: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hype-women/id1704488532Greater Good, Five Science-Backed Strategies to Build Resilience: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/five_science_backed_strategies_to_build_resilience 
    Brand Story Breakthrough course to help you craft a clear, compelling brand story  - includes weekly office hours with Maria!

    Join the tribe, download your free guide! Discover what empathy can do for you: http://red-slice.com/business-benefits-empathy
     
    Connect with Maria: 
    Get the podcast and book: TheEmpathyEdge.com
    Learn more about Maria and her work: Red-Slice.com
    Hire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-Ross
    Take my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with Empathy
    LinkedIn: Maria Ross
    Instagram: @redslicemaria
    X: @redslice
    Facebook: Red Slice
    Threads: @redslicemaria

    • 10 min
    Jeannie Gainsburg: How to Be a Savvy LGBTQ+ Ally

    Jeannie Gainsburg: How to Be a Savvy LGBTQ+ Ally

    Can allyship be fun? Or do you envision every inclusion or diversity training as a slog? It doesn't have to be so heavy-handed!

    Today, Jeannie Gainsburg shares why, as a cisgender woman, she became a strong ally. We tackle how to get over the heaviness and blame of allyship and focus on having conversations with an open heart. We discuss pronouns and why sharing your pronouns (even if they seem obvious) is a great ally action. She also offers the best ways to gather pronouns from others without making it awkward. We talked about what being out and authentic at work looks like. Finally, Jeannie shares a few concrete tips and policies for creating a more LGBTQ+ inclusive workplace.

    Her encouraging, passionate, and warm-hearted approach will surely jumpstart even the most tentative ally.

    To access the episode transcript, please click on the episode title at www.TheEmpathyEdge.com 

    Key Takeaways:
    There are many causes to fight for - just pick one and start going. Fighting for rights for one, is fighting for rights for all.People want to learn, so encouragement, not judgment, is critical.We all use pronouns all day, every day. It doesn’t only affect those who are transgender.  
    "Being an ally is an ongoing journey of messing up. We need to get comfortable with and understand that. Don’t let the fear of messing up or not knowing the right word stop you from having conversations, and know how to apologize. Just have the conversations with an open heart." —  Jeannie Gainsburg

     
    Episode References: 
    Daniel Jahn, The Empathy Edge Podcast: Racial Solidarity and the Psychology of RacismLeo Caldwell, The Empathy Edge Podcast: Why Anti-Trans Laws and Homophobia are Anti-BusinessWe Can Do Hard Things podcast with Glennon Doyle
    Brand Story Breakthrough course to help you craft a clear, compelling brand story - includes weekly office hours with Maria!

    About Jeannie Gainsburg, Founder, Savvy Ally Action
    Jeannie Gainsburg is an educational trainer and consultant in the field of LGBTQ+ inclusion and effective allyship. She is the founder of Savvy Ally Action, a small business that offers fun, accessible, and encouraging workshops and videos on how to be an ally to the LGBTQ+ community. Before forming the company, she spent 15 years working for the Out Alliance, the LGBTQ+ center in Rochester, NY.

    Her book, The Savvy Ally: A Guide for Becoming a Skilled LGBTQ+ Advocate, was published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2020, with the revised 2nd edition published in March 2023.

    Jeannie has a BA in psychology from Brown University and an MA in social work and social research from Bryn Mawr College. She is the recipient of the Empire State Pride Agenda’s Community Champion Award and the Rochester LGBTQ Community Appreciation Award. In 2019, Jeannie also received a citation from the New York State Assembly for Distinguished Educational & Human Rights Services for her work in promoting LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion.

    Connect with Jeannie Gainsburg:  
    Savvy Ally Action: savvyallyaction.com 
    LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jeannie-gainsburg 
    Facebook: facebook.com/savvyally 
    Instagram: instagram.com/jeanniegainsburgauthor 

    Book: The Savvy Ally: A Guide for Becoming a Skilled LGBTQ+ Advocate (2nd Edition)

    Bonus: 100% of royalties from 1st-year sales of the 2nd edition are donated to LGBTQ+ nonprofits working to create a more inclusive world!

    Join the tribe, download your free guide! Discover what empathy can do for you: http://red-slice.com/business-benefits-empathy
     
    Connect with Maria: 
    Get the podcast and book: TheEmpathyEdge.com
    Learn more about Maria and her work: Red-Slice.com
    Hire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-Ross
    Take my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with Empathy
    LinkedIn: Maria Ross
    Instagram: @redslicemaria
    X: @redslice
    Facebook: Red Slice
    Threads: @redslicemaria

    • 39 min

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5
52 Ratings

52 Ratings

Mischa-Z ,

Listen to this podcast to your advantage!

Just listened to the Tia Bhondi interview. Loved it.
Big takeaway: “People are irrational. I don’t know what they might say ‘no’ to.”
“I’m going to ask and find out with my ears and my eyes and my heart open.”

In other words, give people a chance to say yes to your outlandish offer! And then if they say “no” you can work your way down.

Because if they say “yes” right out of the gate… You probably didn’t charge enough!

TeriSchmidt ,

The leadership we need!

Maria does an excellent job of bringing excellent guests on that demonstrate that cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive. I love how she combines data and practical experience to help us carve a path forward using empathy as an advantage. Many of us spend 2/3 of our lives at work and if we are going to create workplaces where people can thrive, the elevation of empathy as a necessary business skill is critical.

Jeannie 123 ,

Outstanding!

I’ve listened to many episodes of The Empathy Edge and was just recently interviewed by Maria for an episode that will air in the fall. I’ve continued to be impressed by Maria’s choices for topics, brilliant guests, thoughtful commentary, and assume goodwill attitude. A standout among many mediocre podcasts!

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