Dig News to Share

If you’ve been following along, I’ve had a lot of news over the past year, especially when it comes to my role at the insights, strategy and training firm that I founded and led since 2011, Ignite 360. Now, I have one more piece of news that closes one chapter and begins another. As of July 31, Ignite 360 has been acquired by Dig Insights! Dig is a larger research firm based in Toronto. I first met the founders at an industry conference in 2021, and we instantly hit it off. Very simpatico philosophies toward customer service and innovative research approaches and genuinely nice people. When we each discovered that the other was open to an acquisition, it became a no-brainer. My intuition, which I’ve learned to trust implicitly, was just saying, 'Yes, this is the place.'

Empathy played a role in the negotiation process as well. Working through open deal points or situations that would come up, Paul, the CEO of Dig, and I were forthcoming about where we were coming from on the topics we were negotiating. We would explain our stances to better understand each other and that helped us collaborate in order to reach compromises and solutions that were acceptable to both sides.

Putting empathy to work in a negotiation of any kind is really as simple as saying “I hope you can see where I’m coming from,” and then explaining that perspective. It cuts through the posturing and chest-thumping and, in our case, served us well as we moved quickly to finalize the deal.

What does this new chapter look like?

I’m getting the best of both worlds moving forward. I will have more time to focus on my Empathy Activist business doing more writing, training and speaking engagements like the one I recently did for Hoplark. And I recognize that for the acquisition to be successful, which I want it to be, I will continue to actively work on the Ignite 360 business. What I won’t have are the added tasks that come with 'owning’ the business. I think I’m ready for that.

I'm looking forward to working with Dig Insights to help them amplify their empathy and storytelling, and to bring the 5 Steps to Empathy to a broader audience.

I also have my next appearance on Good Things Utah coming up this week, where I'll be talking about using empathy to support your kids as they go back to school.

Here we go!

Empathy: As Seen in Real Life

Empathy is all around us if we keep our minds open to seeing it. If you spot empathy in real life, on social or in media, email or DM it to me and I’ll share it here.

It takes courage to be empathetic. Not ‘run into a burning building’ courage but small doses of bravery to take the curious breath, dismantle judgment and dive in to understand. Braver Angels is an organization that helps people develop empathy with one another using facilitated discussions where they learn about each other’s differing viewpoints, usually on a political hot topic. The Washington Post covered a recent session the organization conducted in Wisconsin and published this photo essay. (Thanks to Amy in Chicago for sharing)

Live Happy Now in Divided Times

My recent newsletters focused on how to talk with people with different viewpoints caught the attention of Paula Felps, host of the Live Happy Now podcast and community.

Paula lives in Tennessee and feels the pressure of this divided nation every day. Both family and neighbors are at odds on the different topics and candidates running for office. It can make it challenging to navigate.

We recently had a conversation for the Live Happy Now podcast where Paula presented me with different scenarios and we talked through how to handle them. We also practiced the Curious Breath together. The episode is just under 30 minutes and a quick listen.