The Empathy Advantage

INTRODUCTION: DISCOVER THE NEW NORMAL OF WORK

On a balmy early summer's evening in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 16 business leaders gathered for dinner to talk about their challenges attracting and retaining great workers. They represented every type and stage of business. Mid‐career entrepreneurs to late‐career executives. Advanced technology and financial services companies. Civil servants and academic researchers. No matter the specific work, they shared the same concern with Chris: their workforce is caught up in an eddy of change; how might they possibly lead it?

Halfway around the world in Hamburg, Germany, the executive ranks of a global maritime shipping company huddled in rapt attention to hear Heather explain how and why their post‐pandemic workforce was so transformed. They, too, were wrestling with the seemingly overnight shifts that were affecting every aspect of their business and especially their leadership. How might they, too, adapt to remain effective leaders for their evolving and now empowered workforce?

In both rooms, the feeling of stress and uncertainty was palpable, as it is in boardrooms, executive suites, and management meetings across the globe. We know, because we have had a privileged seat at those tables, talking with, learning from, and hearing the very real concerns of leaders at every level who sense that the post‐Covid world of work has changed dramatically from its pre‐pandemic form. They are not sure what to do about it.

Well, here's the deal: ...