Cover art for How might a leader uncover a social challenge that exists in a work environment? | William Hardaway (1 of 5)
Season 2, Episode 5··11:44

How might a leader uncover a social challenge that exists in a work environment? | William Hardaway (1 of 5)

William Hardaway, working at the intersection of social justice and design thinking, explains why empathy seeking — not surveys — is how leaders uncover workplace social challenges. He introduces his "elephant in the room" activity for surfacing what goes unsaid.

leadershipsocial-justicedesign-thinkingempathy
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Show Notes

In This Episode

Adam and Alicia talk with William Hardaway about how leaders can uncover social challenges hiding in their work environments. Will introduces the concept of "empathy seeking" — a set of skills for uncovering people's real feelings through deeper questions and storytelling rather than surveys. He also walks through his "elephant in the room" activity, where employees anonymously surface the things that go unsaid in the office but get discussed at the water cooler, then use impact voting to identify the most salient issues and build a path forward.

Key Takeaways

  • Empathy seeking is a skill set, not just a feeling — leaders must actively ask deeper questions like "tell me about a time when..." to uncover real emotions and experiences
  • Listen for emotional inflections — when someone's voice changes during a story, that's the moment to dig deeper and ask what that feeling was about
  • You can't uncover social challenges through surveys alone — it requires real-world, facilitated discussion, often best led by an outside facilitator
  • There is no magic pill for systemic issues like racism or sexism — solutions must be custom for every organization, changing individuals, institutions, and structures
  • The "elephant in the room" activity uses anonymous post-it notes and impact voting to surface workplace issues that everyone knows about but nobody talks about openly

About William Hardaway

William Hardaway works at the intersection of social justice and design thinking. After working in each field separately for over a decade, Will combined these two disciplines to drive change in an industry that unites people and crosses borders. Find him on social media at @whardaway.

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