Power of Empathy

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Whitney Hess, a coach, writer, and designer, sits down with Adam Klein to delve into the nuanced topic of empathy in an insightful exploration of what true empathy is, distinguishing it from sympathy and compassion.

Listeners will gain a richer understanding of empathy and its integral role in building meaningful personal and professional connections.

Here are some of the topics covered in the Stepping In podcast episode The Power of Empathy:

• Defining true empathy as the felt experience of another’s emotions/needs, distinct from sympathy and compassion.
• The innate human capacity for empathy and how to intentionally develop it.
• Practices for building empathy skills like nonviolent communication and self-empathy.
• The importance of connecting with one’s own feelings/needs before empathizing with others.
• How coaches bringing empathy and vulnerability can deepen connections with clients.
• The power of empathy for building meaningful personal and professional relationships.

Resources mentioned in this episode
Karla McLaren, Author of The Language of Emotions, discusses how emotions are trying to tell us something.
Robin Parker Meredith: Whitney Hess’s instructor who taught about being a “compassionate witness” in coaching.
Nonviolent Communication (NVC): Community and resource for building empathy skills.

About Whitney Hess
Whitney helps progressive, creative leaders design their careers and accelerate their missions. Her techniques help people gain self-awareness, identify blind spots, navigate obstacles, and bring their whole selves to their work.

For over a decade, Whitney was a user experience consultant who made technology more straightforward and pleasurable. She has been recognized for her work with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Foundation Center, Seamless, Boxee, and WNYC. She is named a co-inventor on a U.S. patent with American Express.

Whitney is a two-time Carnegie Mellon University graduate with a Master’s in Human-Computer Interaction and a Bachelor’s in Professional Writing and HCI. She is a Certified Integral Coach through New Ventures West and a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation. She writes on her blog Pleasure & Pain, co-hosts the podcast Designing Yourself, and speaks at conferences and corporations worldwide.

About Adam Klein
Adam is dedicated to creating a more just, sustainable, creative, and loving world. Before joining New Ventures West, he helped create a first-in-class business solution to combat global slavery and relaunch a San Francisco Bay Area center for integral spiritual formation.

Adam has a Master’s degree in Engineering from Santa Clara University. Some time ago he entered the world of Ironman triathlons and ultra-running as a means to further understand the importance of the body and the deep, integral nature of being human.

Adam focuses on integrating NVW’s purpose and bringing it to fruition. He oversees strategy, tech, and the flow of various internal work streams, as well as supporting graduates and ensuring ICF compliance.

He regularly leads the Professional Coaching Course, hosts our orientation events in San Francisco, is the creator and host of the NVW podcast Stepping In, and has his own business coaching leaders and individuals.

About the Stepping In
Stepping In is a podcast of bold inquiry into life’s biggest challenges with one of the world’s oldest and most distinguished coaching schools, New Ventures West.

In a spirit of curiosity, compassion, and honesty, we delve into how Integral Coaching can address some of the most pressing issues we face as individuals, communities, and stewards of our planet.

In the Stepping In Podcast, we explore what it takes to develop the sensitivity and capacity required to live and thrive in an increasingly complex world.

About New Ventures West
From its humble beginnings to one of the top accredited coaching schools in the world, New Ventures West pioneered one of the deepest, most transformative forms of human development available for coaches, leaders, and anyone looking to bring people alive in possibility.

Further Exploration
New Ventures West: https://www.newventureswest.com/
Getting Started with Integral Coaching: https://www.newventureswest.com/get-s…
Free and paid Integral Coaching events: https://www.newventureswest.com/class…

Timestamps
00:00 Introduction/overview of the episode
00:48 Definition and distinction of empathy vs. sympathy/compassion
03:02 Discussing sympathy and compassion in more depth
06:47 Compassion vs. empathy and potential empathy burnout
11:14 Bringing your own resources when empathizing with others
14:51 Importance of self-empathy
17:56 Specific self-empathy practices (nonviolent communication)
23:25 Modeling self-empathy and vulnerability as a coach
28:38 Drawing on multiple intelligences (cognitive, emotional, somatic)
30:59 Mutuality and self-expression in coaching relationships
34:47 Modeling shared emotional experiences in coaching

Walk on the Wild Side by Lou Reed used with permission
License 1504673862 Date 4/30/24
©EMI Blackwood Music Inc OBO Oakfield Music LTD

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