We are living in more engineered fear than at any point in our lifetimes. And the antidote isn't winning more arguments, cancelling each other and certainly not hoping for karma. It's being in-person, together, listening, curiously. If we can't hold space for each other, we have no common ground, and with no common ground we can't unite. Unite for what exactly? Well let's discuss that at the next panel 😅 So! I've compiled 6 of my favourite insights that came up from our illustrious panel from last week, thank you again to: Marcin Dakowski, Ewa Bulska Celina Kretkowska-Adamowicz Jerzy Brodzikowski And to the wonderful teams at @Venture Cafe and @CIC Warsaw for holding that very space we need to have these conversations. But before I go, I gotta say: As a certified coach: we don't have to live in this much fear. Most of it isn't real. As a strategic advisor: much of the fear is deliberately engineered. Division and outrage in this current system is just so profitable.... for a few. But sets a terrifying future for our children. We must reject this. And lastly, as an amateur empathy scientist: Real empathy is gaining perspectives, which gives you worlds more information to make better decisions. And I've seen how working on the fundamentals such as curiosity, listening, holding space cuts through all of the above. More #empathy please.

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Some important work happening for women's rights right now is being done quietly, by people you've been told are the enemy. Not because they're secretly good. But because the system they're operating inside makes transparency dangerous and silence strategic. It's a messy situation: 1) Oil revenue holds governments together. 2) Those governments write the rules. 3) The rules protect the revenue. Anyone who threatens that architecture (including a company trying to do right by its female workforce) risks being shown the door. This is not a defence of oil and gas. The spills happened. The emissions are real. Places in New Zealand, my home, are now uninsurable. But cancelling people is easier than understanding them. And we've seen what happens when climate action becomes a culture war - we lose the very people we need to change their minds. Thanks Stop Oil. Before you write someone off this week - ask yourself one question. What don't I actually know about this person? That question is where change starts. With curiosity. With empathy.

One of the most detrimental pieces of advice to empaths is to be less empathetic. When you're suffering in service to others, you don't 'tone down' your empathy for others. You tone up empathy for yourself. This means asking questions around the first and second spheres of empathy, to better self manage: 1) Why is this important to me? (First sphere, reconnecting to why) 2) What state am I in? Am I rested? Eaten? Calm? (Second sphere, your physical, emotional and conscious self) My wife constantly reminds me, "you can't be a good guy if you're not around." There are a few meditations on compassion I'll paste in the comments that help me when I'm feeling emotionally drained while in service to others. Pass it on to those who need it, and reach out to join our community of empathy practitioners, we meet once a month.