11 – Engineering Empathetic Leaders – with Erin Thorp

11 – Engineering Empathetic Leaders – with Erin Thorp

Erin Thorp cut her teeth on leadership early on, caring for her younger siblings in a challenging family environment. Her next big leadership challenge became building her career in construction engineering as a woman and emotional being. The modeling and leadership feedback she repeatedly received was that she needs to be less emotional. Her dive into emotional development resulted in writing a book called Inside-Out Empathy. Now she trains leaders on the power of empathy, helping those in corporate and organizational environments that are traditionally masculine and focused on problem solving just how much more effective leaders and teams can be with rich, whole and emotionally literate inner and outer worlds.

Listen in while they talk about:

  • The very significant challenges faced in certain industries and environments as it pertains to being able to be fully human at work.
  • What empathy truly is and what’s needed to develop empathy and why it is crucial, especially in environments where risk assessment, problem solving and having the right answers are paramount.
  • Why working with executives may not be the place to play when affecting organizational change (hint: They’re more married to maintaining the status quo!) and what lower ranking leaders can do to influence culture and grow into the kinds of executives who run and lead the most effective and whole teams.
  • How our current systems, structures and ways of working cause pressure and harm to men (not just to women as is more widely talked about) and how parenting can reveal what’s inculturated versus what’s innate in our boys and how leadership in parenting full, awake, emotionally literate children will help steer this massive ship in new directions for our future.
  • What early education interventions in masculine dominated industries can do to help increase diversity and inclusion, not just as it pertains to various identities, but to our very interiority and ways of seeing and approaching the world as human beings. How inner work in University can help to carve new paths in old systems that’s more inclusive and effective.

More from Erin:

Book – Inside Out Empathy: Explore the underestimated superpower essential for building, developing, and inspiring a rock-solid team.

I also work with companies, teams and leaders to build and deliver customized leadership development programs.  This is by application only.

About Erin:

Erin is a professional engineer, certified associate integral coach, published author, wife and mamma. Not one to back down from a challenge, she has been disrupting the default her entire life. After being told to ‘“fix her emotional self” for the better part of her construction career, Erin set out on to learn how to harness the power of empathy and use it as an effective tool to lead high performing teams.

Based on her own experience and training, Erin is passionate about teaching, mentoring, and coaching others to embrace their emotions, connect with empathy, and deeply engage the people they lead. She believes that the very foundation of building inclusive, diverse teams is to recognize, celebrate, and leverage our differences.


Find Erin here:

Facebook – www.facebook.com/elfsolutionsinc
Twitter – @erin_thorp
Instagram – @elthorp
Website – www.erinthorp.ca
LinkedIn – @erin-thorp-p-eng-acc-03775b34/

For links & show notes go to: cheladavison.com/podcast

I’m an Integral Master Coach™, Master Certified Coach, writer, mother & people lover. My gifts are centered around helping others to meet their calling and unleash their genius, on behalf of our shared world. Get to know me...