I’m so, so thrilled to announce that my book, The Empathetic Workplace: 5 Steps to a Compassionate, Calm, and Confident Response to Trauma on the Job, is now available wherever books are sold. I poured into this book all that I’ve learned over 25 years of working with victims about how to be a supportive listener for those in trauma, while we take care of ourselves. I’m excited to be able to share these lessons with all those who want to show up better for their employees, co-workers, and clients during challenging times.
Like so much else this year, the Empathetic Workplace launch party was held online over Zoom. We had nearly a hundred people show up, from as close as my next-door neighbor here in the DC area all the way to Nova Scotia. I talked about why I wrote the book and shared some tips from it, took questions, had some really kind friends say wonderful things, gave away some copies of the book, and ended with a rousing cheer. It was a really fun evening and I’m so grateful to everyone who was able to make it. If you missed it and would like to see it, you can watch the recording below. I’ll also paste in the chat from that night to give you a sense of the warmth and joy of that evening. Finally, if you haven’t had a chance to get the book yet, go do that! And please leave a review!
19:02:38 From Carrie Callaghan : Yayyyy Kate!!
19:02:59 From Faye McCray : Congratulations, Kate!
19:03:11 From Candace McLaren Lanham : So proud of you!!!!
19:03:16 From Sheri Kurdakul : My copy arrived today… YAY!!!
19:03:31 From Joey Fortuna : Upstate New York
19:03:32 From Julie Artz : Snowy Redmond, Washington!!!
19:03:32 From Tina Winham : Rogers, Arkansas
19:03:32 From Laurie Ann Phillips : Washington, DC — so happy for you!
19:03:33 From Patricia Bravo : Hi from Seattle!
19:03:33 From Nicole Haswell (she/her) : near Springfield, MA
19:03:33 From Lela Davidson : Arkansas
19:03:33 From Meryl Friedman : San Francisco, California
19:03:34 From Heather Marks : Hi, I’m in Raleigh, NC
19:03:34 From Margaret-Ellen Christensen : NYC – Harlem 🙂
19:03:35 From Candace McLaren Lanham : Rockville, MD
19:03:35 From April Terreau : Paris, Ontario Canada!
19:03:35 From Meg Garvin : Portland – Oregon.
19:03:35 From Shaheen Sheik-Sadhal : Laguna Beach, CA
19:03:37 From Kirsten Williams : Across the street!!!
19:03:38 From JELAHN STEWART : Arkansas
19:03:38 From lynne azarchi : New Jersey
19:03:38 From Stephanie Kendall : Near Boston, MA
19:03:39 From Sheri Kurdakul : Princeton, NJ
19:03:39 From Faye McCray : Maryland
19:03:39 From Lauren Pacuit : Chevy Chase, MD
19:03:39 From Sarah Spindler : Harpers Ferry, WV
19:03:40 From Sejal Patel : Sonoma, California!
19:03:40 From Scott and Miranda Matthews : Delaware
19:03:40 From Melissa Day : Seattle
19:03:40 From Matt Boatmon : Wilmington, de
19:03:41 From Claudine Pohl : New Brunswick, Canada
19:03:42 From Chris Wilson : Portland, OR
19:03:42 From David McMullin : Las Vegas
19:03:42 From Pippa Shulman : Cambridge, MA!
19:03:43 From Mila Drumke : Upstate New York!!
19:03:44 From Carrie Callaghan : Just down the street in Silver Spring, MD 🙂
19:03:47 From Ellen Weiss : Rockville, md
19:03:47 From Michelle Slusher : Capitol Hill DC
19:03:48 From Jennifer Vance : Baton Rouge LA
19:03:48 From Aimee Gross Lubalin : I’m in Oakland. congratulations, Kate!
19:03:49 From Tamara Bruce : Gaithersburg, MD
19:03:49 From Rebecca Davis : Arkansas
19:03:51 From Andrea Schierkolk : Brookland, DC
19:03:52 From Heather Cartwright : Naples Florida
19:03:54 From Maya Godofsky : Around the corner from you! 😉 Congratulations, Kate!!
19:03:54 From Karen Evans : Bay Area, California
19:03:55 From Jennifer Quezada : Rogers, Arkansas
19:04:13 From Leslie Hagen : South Carolina
19:04:21 From Margaret Groban : Portland, Maine. So proud Kate!!❤️
19:04:28 From Kathrina Peterson : so happy for you Kate!!l around the corner in dc
19:05:11 From Janice Lloyd : Congrats Kate from the other side of the beltway, Janice and Julia
19:06:24 From Sejal Patel : SO THRILLED FOR YOU, Kate!!!!!!!!
19:07:24 From Rosanna King : You’ve come a long way! Congrats on this wonderful achievement!
19:07:42 From Stefanie Van Pelt : Bethesda!
19:08:35 From Shirley Jones : Yes, good points.
19:12:06 From Karuna Jaggar : Huge congrats, Kate! Wonderful to see this side of you and your powerful work.
19:13:43 From Jessica Sebeok : Kate – Mazel tov on this terrific achievement!
19:14:36 From lynne azarchi : during COVID, is this a ‘silver lining’ opportunity to inculcate empathy in the workplace? we know that empathy is a slow process ..in a good way
19:16:45 From Carrie Callaghan : Kate, I know you have some impressive fiction writing skills too! How did you put those tools to use in this book?
19:19:24 From Faye McCray : ^^^ great question
19:20:24 From Nicole Haswell (she/her) : I am anxious to hear how you translate this empathy for victims in the justice system to individuals in the workplace, and how HR Managers could use the skills in your book in their every day work.
19:20:53 From Sheri Kurdakul : What was your most challenging aspect in writing this book and how did you overcome it?
19:21:14 From Leslie Hagen : I know that you also write children’s books. Do you plan on creating a version of this book for children?
19:22:19 From Sheri Kurdakul : Leslie, what a great question (and thought!).
19:25:20 From Joey Fortuna : Agree! Giving children this vocabulary would help plant seeds for a world of change.
19:26:29 From Natasha McGlynn : My apologies in advance, as my question is limited in my knowledge of your book (it arrived at my home in Philadelphia, but alas, I’m in DC at the moment): did you examine Sandy Bloom’s Sanctuary model? (To note, I’m Executive Director of a victim service agency in Philadelphia, the Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia, and have been looking at trauma-informed/restorative practices/procedures for the workplace)
19:28:37 From Jessica Sebeok : Could you talk a little about the tension that sometimes exists (or at least is sometimes perceived) by both HR folks and attorneys between being empathetic and protecting the organization from liability or other risk?
19:30:36 From Jessica Sebeok : (Sorry, my typing thumbs garbled that question a bit.)
19:31:33 From Susan Baker Manning : Great question Jessica!
19:32:31 From Susan Baker Manning : Thanks for all of the questions everyone! Keep ’em coming!
19:33:01 From Bonnie Greenberg To Katharine Manning(privately) : This was such a lovely presentation. Waiting on the book from Politics and Prose. Hugs and congrats!
19:33:23 From Michelle Slusher : congrats!!!
19:33:27 From Rebecca Allen : Kate, I don’t have a question, but I am just so excited about your book launch. Congratulations!!!
19:35:43 From Shirley Jones : Editors Rock!!
19:35:47 From Ellen Weiss : when the trauma is widespread through a workplace. (Covid) how do you deal with meeting people where they are—which is in a lot of different places—how do you deal with the idea of “fairness”?
19:38:23 From Mariel Branagan : Love that question, Ellen!
19:42:47 From Barbara Gault : I’m so glad that it is working out despite the surprise. I am doing well — took some time for a sabbatical and am consulting.
19:43:41 From Claudine Pohl : love this!!
19:46:27 From Stephanie Kendall : If everyone could take your approach, so many issues would be better understood in our society…sexual violence, racism, environmental issues, etc. Your work in developing these skills can be applied across many contexts. I don’t have a question I guess, more a comment on the importance of this work for our society. Congratulations!!
19:51:13 From Lisa Kreeger-Norman : Kate, CONGRATULATIONS! great to “see” you.
19:52:09 From Sheri Kurdakul : Although we have known each other for a very short time, I feel so fortunate to now know you. Congratulations on the book (and your podcast)!
19:52:09 From Jessica Sebeok : 🍾🥂👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
19:52:10 From Terry Clark : Kate, thanks for sharing your heart with so many of us.
19:52:49 From Darlene Averick : CONGRATS!!!!
19:54:02 From Glenn Kirschner : Hey Jelahn!
19:54:32 From Meredith Miller : Congratulations to you, Kate, and to all of us fortunate to have you in our lives! ❤️
19:54:58 From Heather Cartwright : Hey Jelahn! Great to see you!
19:55:24 From Glenn Kirschner : Congrats Katherine and thank you for your years of public service and your ongoing dedication to crime victims.
19:55:24 From Shaheen Sheik-Sadhal : Congratulations, Kate! What an inspiration you are and thank you for your gift to this world!
19:55:41 From Lauren Pacuit : Congratulations Kate. You are an inspiration!
19:56:07 From Laurie Sternberg : congratulations, Kate! This was fabulous!
19:56:25 From Mariel Branagan : Congratulations, Kate!
19:56:27 From Karuna Jaggar : Very exciting! Hope to see you while you’re here!
19:57:52 From Michelle Slusher : congrats, Kate! So proud of you!
19:58:00 From Sarah Van Steenburg : This is fantastic – huge kudos Kate!!!xoxo
19:58:06 From MaryKay McCoy : Great subject! Congratulations Kate. Paul is here listening too and sends xxoo.
19:58:14 From Jennifer Vance : Congrats congrats Kate!!
19:58:33 From Sejal Patel : so so so so proud of you!!!!!!
19:58:34 From Meg Garvin – she /her : so excited for you!
19:58:48 From Maya Godofsky : love
19:59:00 From Kathrina Peterson : congratulations, Kate!!! this is such a wonderful resource for all of us!!
19:59:01 From Chris Wilson : Thank you for the inspiration! 🙂
19:59:04 From Sarah Van Steenburg : Kate C – great questions – all be well!!!
19:59:04 From April Terreau : Congratulations Katharine! So happy our paths have crossed!
19:59:05 From Daniel Herzfeld : Congratulations!
19:59:06 From Pippa Shulman : Mazel tov!!
19:59:11 From Tamara Bruce : Congrats!
19:59:15 From Laura Dunn : Congrats!!
19:59:20 From Faye McCray : Congratulations, Kate!