Welcome!

Welcome to the inaugural issue of Reading Between the Lines, a newsletter designed to deliver of-the-moment insights into human behavior and empathy, drawn from the world of marketing research; practical and tactical tips on using the skill of empathy in everyday life; and exclusive updates to keep my community close on a biweekly basis.

You are receiving this because you either…

A) Signed up for more information about empathy

B) Attended one of my book events

C) Downloaded the bonus chapter

D) Shared in a great conversation about empathy with me

I respect your decision if you want to opt out of this email at the link below, but I am so happy that you’re here and have read this far!

Thank you for joining me on this journey, and for supporting Tell Me More About That: Solving the Empathy Crisis One Conversation at a Time (whose one-year birthday will be here before we know it on 2/22!). As you know, the work of we Empathy Activists is never done — and I am thrilled to discover, learn, and grow alongside you in this new venue.

Please share this with your friends, colleagues, and others who have an interest in strengthening their empathy skills.

As we journey through the holiday season, I wish you health, good tidings, and rest as we close the final chapter of 2022.

What's in a Gift?

Think of a great gift you’ve received. What made it great?

Now, think about a gift that missed the mark and maybe disappointed you. What made that a “bad” gift? (I can think of a green Christmas sweater I received around the age of twelve…)

While the stories we hear vary in specifics, a universal truth emerges: Great gifts are based on an empathetic understanding of what the recipient would want.

Here are a few gift ideas for different people in your life. Remember: Think about who they are, and what they are interested in and want. Hint: It’s usually not a green sweater, with all due respect to green sweaters. ;)

For the joy-seeker: Blissometer

→ It’s been so exciting to follow and support my friend Heidi Dickert in the creation of Blissometer, a new online platform that provides guidance and wisdom from experts on various aspects of life for users’ journeys, helping them to find bliss in everyday life.

The platform offers insights through a variety of interactive media, including podcasts, 1:1 coaching sessions with experts, and guided meditations.

And I’m thrilled to announce that I’m a new Blissometer course creator and coach!

On the platform, you’ll find me leading a micro-session entitled “Demystifying the Practice of Empathy” and an Ignite 360 e-course, “Better Meetings Now with Empathy Best Practices.”

I encourage you to check out the incredible work Heidi and the folks at Blissometer are up to and join us in what’s sure to be a fulfilling and enrichment-forward community.

For the comforting caregiver: Showing Up: A Comprehensive Guide to Comfort and Connection by Jen Marr

→ Jen Marr’s powerful guidebook on how to show up in meaningful ways for colleagues, friends, and strangers alike is crucial in our current moment.

If one thing’s for sure, as Jen tells us, it’s this: We do indeed need each other. 👥

For the wellness-centered techie: Oura Ring

→ As someone who likes to keep tabs on my body’s trends, I’m completing my 3rd year as an Oura Ring user, which tracks sleep, activity levels, temperature, stress, and heart rate.

I’ve found that my “readiness” score always dips during periods of heavy travel or festive eating and drinking – and my cognitive skills are typically low when I haven’t caught enough deep sleep. The dots in my head don’t connect as sharply, it seems. The Oura ring brings awareness and with that meta-cognition, I can be mindful of my behavior to get more sleep.

Food for Thought

Something surprising to discuss over the holidays?

Recently, I was combing through data from Ignite 360’s Navigating to a New Normal study — in particular, the results from a question about the level of concern people have with various issues facing them today.

What surprised me was that, after food (71%), fuel (64%), and home energy (63%) prices, the next issues that worried most US adults were the inability of people to overcome differences of opinion and the political polarization in government. That’s right: 62% of US adults were worried about their differences of opinion, while political polarization was a worry for 60% of the same 1,500 respondents.

Following that, cyber theft and online security were a worry for 57%, followed by pollution (55%), climate change (55%), and terrorism (53%). Other issues, like personal safety from crime and violence; access to healthcare; racial inequality or discrimination; the wealth gap; animal welfare; and drug and substance abuse were further down on the list.

Reading between the lines, what I see is that people are worried about the state of our discourse, and the empathy crisis is contributing to that. Empathy is what helps people communicate, collaborate, and compromise. In other words, it helps us overcome differences of opinion and would ease the polarization in government.

A headline on a slide from a presentation I’ve given around the country this year reads:

“Empathy enables the skills that we need to be the people we are or hope to become.”

There’s confusion that my favorite 7-letter word is an endpoint. That’s not the case. Rather, it makes way for us to…

Communicate 💬

Collaborate 👥

Build Trust 🤝

Forgive 💖

Compromise 🙌

Ideate 🧠

…in order to be successful in our work as leaders, individual contributors, volunteers, and, really, *any* role we step into.

I had a wonderful time speaking with Russel Lolacher on the Relationships at Work Podcast. Thank you for putting a little empathy on the airways!

Wishing a wonderful holiday season to you and yours.

— Rob