Ripple Effect Leadership: Building High-Trust Teams in a Low-Trust World

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Text, Wednesdays with Woodward (registered trademark). Webinar Series. A slide presentation. The speaker's video is in the top right. An image shows a laptop with a potted plant on the left and a red mug with a white umbrella on the right. Logos, Travelers Institute (registered trademark). Travelers. 

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JOAN WOODWARD: Hi there, everyone. Good afternoon. And thank you so much for joining us. I'm Joan Woodward, President of the Travelers Institute, the public policy division and educational arm of Travelers. And I'm really thrilled to be with you today. Welcome to Wednesdays with Woodward, a webinar series we started about four years ago where we convene leading experts for conversation about today's biggest challenges.

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Slide, About Travelers Institute (registered trademark) Webinars. Text, The Wednesdays with Woodward (registered trademark) educational webinar series is presented by the Travelers Institute, the public policy division of Travelers. This program is offered for informational and educational purposes only. You should consult with your financial, legal, insurance or other advisors about any practices suggested by this program. Please note that this session is being recorded and may be used as Travelers deems appropriate. 

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So before we begin, let's briefly review our disclaimer for today's webinar.

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Slide, Wednesdays with Woodward (registered trademark) Webinar Series. Text, Ripple Effect Leadership: Creating High-Trust Teams in a Low-Trust World. Logos, Travelers Institute (registered trademark), Travelers, Master’s in Financial Technology (FinTech) Program at the University of Connecticut School of Business, Insurance Association of Connecticut, National Association of Professional Insurance Agents, Connecticut Business & Industry Association (C.B.I.A.), MetroHartford Alliance, Pride & Allies Diversity Network, TrustedChoice.com.

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OK, folks, let's get started. We all know that teamwork and collaboration are the linchpins of success in any organization. But changes in how we work and events around the world today are creating challenges for businesses and employees that are undermining and potentially changing workforce bonds forever. 

The rise of remote and hybrid workforce has scattered teams. Rapidly advancing technologies has changed how work and how we interact with that. The increasing polarization in society has left many workers unable to work with those who have opposing viewpoints. The older generations in our workplace have very different perspectives than younger generations. And this is happening all around us today.

Trust in institutions and trust in each other is low. Loneliness and anxiety are high, according to many experts. So how can organizations create inspired, motivated and engaged teams at a time where employees may feel disconnected or really undervalued in their jobs? Our guest today has some advice. Chris Rollins is a leadership and executive coach who began his career in sales, then discovered his love for coaching, mentoring and team building.

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Slide, Speakers. Two profile pictures show a smiling woman with short blond hair on the left, and a smiling man with short brown hair on the right. Text on the left, Joan Woodward. Executive Vice President, Public Policy; President, Travelers Institute, Travelers. Text on the right, Chris Rollins. Keynote Speaker, Executive Coach, Creator, Ripple Effect Leadership. 

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After a decade working for several corporations, in 2020, he launched his own company, Chris Rollins Coaching. Chris is a sought-after workplace and leadership keynote speaker, coach and creator of the Ripple Effect Leadership Framework, which we're going to hear about shortly. He regularly speaks at Fortune 500 companies like Oracle, SAP, Walmart, Raytheon. I could go on and on, but a lot of them. 

He has coached hundreds of leaders at dozens of companies to build inclusive, high-trust, connected and engaged teams. His work is inspired by his compelling personal story, which you're going to hear about in a moment. Chris is a graduate of Davidson College in North Carolina. Chris, thanks so much for being here. Take it away.

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Slide, Become a Ripple Effect Leader, (trademark). Text, Building High-Trust Teams in a Low-Trust World. Chris Rollins, Keynote Speaker, Ripple Effect Leadership. The blue slides have white and pink ripples in the background. 

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CHRIS ROLLINS: When I was six years old, my dad bought me my first set of golf clubs. At eight, I'd be watching Phil Mickelson on TV while chipping in this little practice area I set up right there in my living room. Junior year, I go to a boarding school for golfers, even though it means leaving my friends, my family, breaking up with my girlfriend, Lindsay. It all pays off. 

I get a scholarship to play Division I at Davidson College. I'm moving in my freshman year, and I meet this guy across the hall, his name is Chase. And Chase and I become best friends hanging out together all the time. And one afternoon we're in my room talking, and I notice I just sort of fade out the words that he's saying and now I'm just watching his lips move. Huh.

He's kind of cute. Later that night we're pre-gaming with the guys on the hall like we always do, we're taking shots. Chase and I exchange some glances. I pretend to point at something across the room just to graze his hand. It's like a jolt of electricity runs through my body. The next morning, I wake up, and there's Chase in my bed.

Now, I know what happened last night, but I know I am not gay. Chase leaves. We don't say a word. Two weeks later, I wake up, and there's Chase in my bed again. Later that night I look myself straight in my eyes in the bathroom mirror. What the heck is wrong with you?

But that summer, when I kissed Chase for the first time, I know. We go back to school that fall, and we are keeping things on the down low. Meanwhile, my dad has been calling and calling, and I'm just ignoring him because he only ever wants to talk about three things, golf, grades and girls. And I don't know how I'm going to tell him about Chase, but I know I got to tell him.

So I pick a date. Three weeks from today he's coming to visit me at a golf tournament in Georgia. I'm going to tell him then. That night at dinner I am just pushing food around my plate trying to find the right words to share. He's about to sign the dinner check. I finally say, “Dad, I'm gay and I'm happy. His name is Chase.”

Dad drops the pen he's using to sign a check and then he looks at me. And he says, “I am so proud of you. That's awesome.” Later that night, I think to myself, well, that went really well, but I know, it might not have. But it did because my dad made me feel safe, seen, accepted.

And I know, the way he showed up in that moment, the way he handled that one conversation was a key reason I was able to become SVP of Organizational Development at a $40 million company with 200 employees by the age of 30. And it's why today I help organizations develop leaders who create those same kind of ripple effects for their people, because everybody deserves to feel safe, seen and accepted, especially during difficult conversations.

Now we're going to talk a lot about trust in leadership today. And there may be people on this call who don't manage people. So you may be thinking, well, what is this leadership stuff have to do with me? But let me be really clear. Leadership is not a title. It is not a salary. It is not a position.

Leadership is about your capacity to influence other people. It's about how you act, how you behave, how you show up in a one-on-one conversation. So when we talk about leadership today, I'm talking to every single person on this call. And we need your leadership because today, at a time when trust is low, polarization is high, and our workforce is more distributed than ever, we need to create leadership that fosters connection, engagement and inclusion for our organizations.

But we cannot build trust, we cannot foster connection, and we cannot create a sense of belonging if we don't have a foundation of safety. Safety creates space for trust. And there's a ripple effect if you don't get this right. I'm willing to bet that there are people on this call in your organizations who today or in the past haven't felt safe when they show up at work.

And it's not only impacting your ability to do your job, it could be threatening your physical and mental health. We know that four in five people are unwilling to work with someone who disagrees with their point of view. Four in five people.

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Text, Source: Edelman Trust Barometer, 2023. 

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So just think for a moment what that might do to our ability to have effective communication, collaboration and teamwork. It's pretty hard. 

A good leader creates a space where even when people disagree, they can have a conversation and listen. A good leader creates a space where even when people disagree, they can have a conversation and listen. This is what it looks like when you create those kinds of environments.

This is what it looks like when you build high-trust teams. People report 106% more energy, 76% more engagement, 50% higher productivity, and 29% more life satisfaction when you're working on high-trust teams, not to mention 40% less burnout, and 74% less stress. And I know we can all do with a little less burnout and a little less stress. In the 15-plus years that I've been working with organizations, here's what I've learned about trust.

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Text, Source: HBR, Neuroscience of Trust, 2017. 

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Trust is the byproduct of human-centered leadership. Human-centered leadership is the byproduct of ripple effect thinking. So today, I'm going to invite every single one of you on this call, as I have this conversation with you and with Joan, to hold up a mirror and ask yourself, what can I do to take responsibility for creating safety and building trust with the people that I work with, the people on my teams? Responsibility for becoming a ripple effect leader and watch as those ripples that you create take your business to the next level.

So I'm going to share with you, before I get into conversation with Joan, the three key principles for becoming a ripple effect leader in your business, in your community and, really, in your own life. And the first is that it comes down to you. You are the pebble. Everywhere you go, you are creating ripples. Every conversation, every interaction inside your organization is creating a ripple. 

Every time you host a meeting. Every time you have a one-on-one. Every time you give a piece of feedback. Everything you say and everything you don't say is creating a ripple. And sometimes those ripples are good and sometimes they're not so good. So we have to get present to the impact that those ripples are having on other people and being an active contributor to the safety and trust of the people around us.

And here's the thing, every single one of you and every single one of you in your organizations has a fundamental need to feel safe. Doesn't matter where you're from, who you love, what you look like, where you sit in your organization, everybody has a fundamental need to feel safe. It's something that we all have in common.

And we all have a responsibility to create that safety for other people. So we all need it. And what's less talked about is that we all have a responsibility to create that safety for others. And there is a nuance to this, which is that we have to look at creating safety through the lens of equity. What the heck does that mean?

In her TED Talk, “The Myth of Bringing Your Full, Authentic Self to Work,” Jodi-Ann Burey says that "being authentic privileges those already part of the dominant culture. So when a homogeneous leadership team sets the rules and rewards, it's on them to create the space for people of color and others to bring their authentic selves."

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Text, Source: TEDX, November 2020. "The Myth of Bringing Your Full, Authentic Self to Work." 

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And this is not about name calling or blaming, or shaming, or finger pointing, or canceling, it's about recognizing that your pebble may have a little more force. 

And those ripples may extend a little bit further than the person next to you. So it's about building some self-awareness and understanding that it's even more important that you're thinking about the environment that you're creating, the safety that you're creating with people all around you. The second thing you need to know-- and by the way, I will share all these slides with you at the end of the presentation. So don't worry about taking down too many notes.

The second thing you need to know is to polish the pebble. First you are the pebble. Once you accept responsibility that you're creating ripples everywhere you go, this is about how you show up. This is about how you do the work. And if you want to build trust with the people that you work with, if you're remote, if you're hybrid, if you're in person, if you want to build trust, you have to shift the way that you think.

You have to shift from a siloed mindset to a ripple effect mindset.

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A diagram of a siloed mindset shows a small, single circle. A diagram of a ripple effect mindset shows ripples emanating out to form a large round shape with many layers. 

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A siloed mindset is having a really narrow focus on your goals, your agenda, your tasks, without considering the broader context or the interconnected nature of our work. A ripple effect mindset is having a keen awareness that the impact of your words, your actions, behaviors, extend far beyond what's immediately apparent. 

So in a siloed mindset, we make assumptions. In a ripple effect mindset, we seek the truth. In a siloed mindset, we tackle the presenting problem. But in a ripple effect mindset, we explore the root cause. In a siloed mindset we're tuned into WIIFM Radio, what's in it for me? And we have to change the channel to WIIFU, which doesn't land the same, does it?

What's in it for us? What's in it for us? So how do we make that shift? How do we shift from a siloed mindset to a ripple effect mindset? It comes down to practicing these five skills, vulnerability, kindness, curiosity, empathy and humility. And this is not a destination. It's not a checklist. It's a commitment to being a leader who's polishing the pebble over and over and over again.

So what might this look like in your world, in the work that you're doing? In my Ripple Effect Workshops, we go a lot deeper on each of these and how to apply them into your work. And so for today, with the short time that we have, I just want to offer some simple prompts that you can use in conversations with your people to start to build connection and trust.

So the first and arguably the most important is vulnerability, which is about really showing that you're human. It's about normalizing not knowing, leaning into that discomfort and asking for help, saying things like, I made a mistake and I want to acknowledge it openly. Or I've been struggling with this decision, and I would really value your input.

And what you'll find is that vulnerability is really woven into each of these because sometimes it takes a lot of vulnerability to be kind, or to be curious, or to be humble. And kindness is about showing that you care. It's about expressing gratitude, recognizing excellence and really acknowledging people going deeper than just sharing compliments, saying, I'm inspired by your commitment to the work. Thanks for going above and beyond today.

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Text, Show people how they matter. Example bullet, "Your well-being matters. How can I help?" 

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Curiosity is about showing that you're engaged, that you're present, that you're committed to building your self-awareness and learning, saying things like, tell me more about that, and asking open-ended questions. Or holding our assumptions a little bit longer and asking, you know, I have this story about what's going on, but what's really true for you about this situation? 

Empathy is about showing that you understand and that you want to understand, reserving judgment, providing an emotional acknowledgment, saying things like I sense this project has been challenging, how can we make it more manageable for you? Or saying things like, yeah, your feelings are valid. Do you-- do you want to talk it through? Do you just need some time to vent?

Do you want some coaching? And really trying to understand what people need. And humility, which is about showing that you're open-minded. And this is not about being humble about your successes or accomplishments, because I think there's space for us to celebrate ourselves and each other more, but it's really about being humble about never fully knowing someone else's experience and just pausing and getting curious, and asking more questions to really listen in, and seeking other people's perspective.

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Text, Ask for input, explore alternative thinking, listen more than you speak. Example bullets, "I'm not attached to being right here, what do you think?" "I value your expertise. What do you see from your perspective?" 

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Sometimes people say to me, Chris, this sounds great, but I don't have time to have all these conversations, right? I'm being asked to do more with less. I need an approach that scales. But that is exactly why the Ripple Effect is the best strategy because when you approach conversations with this mindset, not only are you directly impacting the person that you're talking to, but then there’s a ripple effect, an emotional contagion that they take to their teams. 

And so maybe you spend an extra 10 minutes in a conversation with someone today, but you might be saving yourself hours and hours and, honestly, dollars down the road. And when you do this over and over again, people will start to feel more safe, more seen, more heard. And that's what creates a ripple effect that allows you to lead at the speed of trust.

The last thing you need to know, the third principle after you are the pebble and polish the pebble is to jump in the pond into the murky uncomfortable waters of Ripple Effect Leadership because safety is something that you do. It's not something that you wait around for. It's not something that just appears out of thin air. It's something that you do all in.

And if you remember, the first thing I did today was I shared my personal story with you. And there's a lot of people on this webinar, a lot of people that I don't know. And I'm willing to say maybe that story made some people uncomfortable, but I was willing to jump in, vulnerability first, allowing all of you to have opinions about me so that I could create this space and this conversation as a place where trust and connection can grow.

And that's the feeling I want you to create at your companies and the vulnerability that you can apply with your people. First, by sharing more of yourselves, then by asking others to share more of themselves, so that there's a sense of humanity around the conference table or Zoom room before we dive into today's problem that needs to be solved. Here's my challenge.

The next three conversations you have, the next three meetings you're part of, take just two minutes to check in with the people that you're talking to. I have seen working with companies that these small shifts are enough that over time people will feel more safe, more seen, more heard, more engaged, more connected, more committed, more willing to step up, more loyal. Imagine if all of us, 1,600-plus people on this call, go back and have conversations that start from this place.

Imagine the impact 30 days from today if we all do this for a month. Imagine the ripple effect on your employees, your teams, the quality of work that you'll have, the teamwork, the sense of unity. Imagine the impact on how you'll be viewed as a leader as someone who's open and available and can hold the vision for everybody on your team.

You know, I held back from sharing my personal story for a long time, because I know people, maybe some of you who've had the same experience, but a lot worse response to it. And so there are people who hear my story and they say, Chris, you're so lucky that your dad responded that way. But you know what I realized?

One of the reasons my dad was able to have that loving response that he did was because of the work that was laid down for years before I had that conversation with him by people I've never met who were willing to do what it took to make that conversation over dinner with my dad feel safe. I was the recipient of a ripple effect that started long before I came along and is continuing today.

And that is why I am so committed to making sure that everybody at your company feels included, that everybody feels like they belong, that we're equipping leaders to handle difficult conversations thoughtfully, and that we're building high-trust teams to drive your businesses forward. There's a lot of problems in our world today. And I'm excited to have this conversation with Joan.

And I also know that in our time today we're not going to solve the racism problem. We're not going to close the gender pay gap. We're not going to solve the mental health crisis. And we're not going to resolve our disparate opinions about access to health care or gender expression. But what every single person on this call can do is show up and make a difference for the one person in front of them to make sure that every single person that they interact with on their teams, in their communities, feels safe, feels seen, feels heard, and knows that they can come talk to you and share their experience, that we can never truly ever realize as leaders.

And if we can do that, if we can create a space where all of that happens, the ripple effect is that these big problems get taken care of, and we are the last generation of people to deal with them. But without the pebble in the pond, the ripples cannot reach the shore. This is not easy and, trust me, this is definitely not comfortable, but we do it anyway. We're all leaders. And the outcome is not only necessary, it's the right thing to do.

You can still do it. You can still start where you are. Even if nobody else at your company is on board, that's the ripple effect that you can be part of today.

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Slide, Thank you! On the right is a QR code. Text, Download key slides, data and insights from today's conversation. Chris Rollins dot M.E. slash Travelers. 

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With that, I'll open up the conversation to Joan. And as I promised, there's an opportunity for you to download all the slides. And we'll put this up later as well, but I wanted to make sure that you have an opportunity to capture that information as well. 

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The slide presentation ends and is replaced by the videos of the two speakers side by side. 

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JOAN WOODWARD: Well, Chris, I, honestly, I don't even know where to begin because that was so impactful. And I just think of all the conversations over the years that I've had in the workforce, and just hearing and thinking about the framework that you put this in, I think there's so many conversations I could have had a better outcome. And I know a lot of people on this call are going to email and text me and say, Joan, this is the most impactful. 

We've had 100-plus webinars. This opening session, to me, was the most important one. Right? Of all the insurance marketplace stuff we talk about or rate, and retention, and just everything that our businesses are so focused on every day, if we took a moment in time, as you say, to start meetings, just asking people how we're doing and really being vulnerable in our leadership style. So thank you so much for that. I know a lot of people--

This is going to be one of the most, I think, shared replays we have, because everyone should hear your message. And I really appreciate your telling your true story. And if you don't know it-- excuse me, guys. If you don't know it, Chris's dad came on our show a couple months ago talking about retirement.

And Mark Rollins and his wife, Jody, were just amazing. And so he's a gem of a guy. You were lucky to have him as your dad. And we were lucky to have him talk about his passion and with his new book. So all right, folks, we're going to dive right in. And, as you know, I always like to ask the audience a question to get us started and to kick us off.

So first, audience, we only have one today. Is it a challenge for you to work with someone with whom you disagree politically or on cultural issues? Is it a challenge for you? And let's be honest. This is a very polarized world we live in. Let's look at the results. So, Chris, take a look at this. Let's focus on the 34% that are saying in my workplace we don't discuss topics like politics or cultural issues.

Fifty percent say no, they don't have a hard time working with someone who they disagree with. And we have 16% of the population here is saying yes. Give us your thoughts on the results here.

CHRIS ROLLINS: So I'm seeing that as a trend more and more that companies are opting to have policies or unspoken policies about not talking about politics or religion. And I think it's kind of an open debate as to if that's a productive approach or a counterproductive approach. And I think it just gets a little bit murky when you start to define, well, what's politics and what's not politics, right?

And I think that's the biggest challenge when we look at things like overturning Roe v Wade or other things that are happening in society. How do we define what it means to be talking about politics, right? And we'll talk about this later. These things inevitably seep into the consciousness of people that are coming to work every day, right? So it's hard to separate those things.

JOAN WOODWARD: OK. So I want to talk about what businesses are seeing out there. So when organizations come and ask you to come speak or give guidance, what do they tell you? Why are they asking you to come in? What are the challenges that businesses are seeing in their workforce today? Because you've talked to a lot of different companies over the past 10 years or so.

CHRIS ROLLINS: Well, I'll answer this in two ways. One, I'll talk about the symptoms that companies are typically bringing, and then talk about some of the problems that I'm seeing underneath those. So more often than not, companies are saying, we've got an engagement problem, or we've got a retention problem. And Gallup just put out their recent poll saying that engagement scores are at an 11-time—11-year low in the workplace. So going back to 2013.

And so that's kind of reflected in the conversation I'm hearing. And retention-- companies are struggling to retain top talent because engagement is low and also diverse talent. That we've spent a lot of resources trying to bring those folks into our organization. And so oftentimes, then when you dig in, there could be a slew of problems that organizations are facing, but a couple things that have come up recently and are pretty common is a culture where there's a sort of fear of conflict and everybody's smiling, but nobody's speaking up.

And I see this a lot where chief diversity officers or heads of HR will say to me, well, we have well-meaning leaders, we've got great people who want to do the right thing, but they don't want to say the wrong thing. They don't want to make people mad, sad or feel bad. And they just don't know where to start. So they end up kind of disengaging, not having important conversations, and that ultimately has a ripple effect that impacts people's careers.

And ultimately things end up sort of blowing up because the problems aren't being addressed. The other thing I'll see is that organizations are so focused on the goal. Right? We're working so hard and so fast to get the work done that we're sort of forgetting that we're all humans and the sense of decency is kind of derailed from the working operations. So how can we kind of slow down and remember that there's another person on the other end of your email?

And the third thing that I've seen most often in the work that I do is companies who've done a great job maybe building employee resource groups or diversity networks, but they really want to engage allies, people who aren't necessarily part of those communities. And that's the work that I'm really passionate about and think I'm pretty well positioned to support organizations to help, because we really need support from everybody.

Otherwise, we're just sort of in echo chambers having these conversations. So those are some of the common themes, themes I've been seeing.

JOAN WOODWARD: Yeah. We here at Travelers certainly have added the word allies to all of our employee resource groups. And I think it's one of the biggest, not challenges, but the opportunities for companies to have the allyship. I call it accomplished, accomplice. I want an accomplice to my success, not just an ally. I want someone to be throwing me that football on the field, not just on the sidelines saying go, you're doing a great job.

I want someone to be an accomplice to my success. So the allyship, I think, is really key. Have you seen any maybe backlash around DEI programs? Because I think the pendulum is maybe swinging. And are you seeing that? Or hearing about that?

CHRIS ROLLINS: So, yeah, I mean, you kind of hear lots of different things. So from my experience-- and I'm based here in Florida. And so, kind of I think depending on where you live, you hear different things, right? But in the state of Florida, all the 28 colleges in the Florida College System no longer have funding or can take state or federal funding for DEI programs.

So what we're seeing is universities and colleges who are actually shutting down their DEI offices. So that's a real thing that's happening here that is an impact from what's going on. I also hear from colleagues and friends who were hired a few years ago to lead DEI efforts who are losing their jobs, kind of at a pace that's unsettling. But I will tell you that I was at an event in Chicago just a few weeks ago with a newly formed group called the United Insurance Network that was the first-time meeting of folks from APIW, from NAAIA, from LAAIA, from AAIN, from all these different networks that are supporting Latin Americans, African Americans, women, the Link USA group.

And one of the most amazing things was that there was this panel with five folks from the industry and then five students who are studying risk management and insurance. And some of the panelists who were working in the industry said, years ago we thought, if we do really good at our jobs in DEI, we're going to work ourselves out of a job. And of course, here we are years later with what seems like more work to do than we have time for.

But these students, the overwhelming takeaway from everybody at that event was like, if this is the future of the insurance industry, we have a lot to be hopeful for. And so that's what I'm really excited about is tapping into these younger folks who are really driving change with a lot of passion and enthusiasm.

JOAN WOODWARD: Right. I mean, Chris, your personal story really about coming out, others may feel like they need to still hide this at work or, for that matter, anyone who feels that their religion, ethnicity, age, health status, needs to be hidden. What advice do you have for those folks who might be on the call today just not feeling they're bringing their authentic self to work?

CHRIS ROLLINS: Yeah. I appreciate that you kind of opened up the question to other identities. To paint the picture for the LGBTQ community for a second-- and we talked about different generations in the workforce. So in 2025, 27% of the workforce will be Gen Z, so almost a third of the workforce. And that's going-- taking over baby boomers, right?

And so if you think, well, that's a big chunk of the workforce. Now you look at the fact that 28% of Gen Z identify as LGBTQ+, we're talking about a very big population that is coming to work in a way that they need to figure out, do I come out? Do I not come out? Do I share who I am? Do I not?

And Glassdoor did a study that said 45% of LGBTQ people feel like coming out at work is a bad career move. So we're talking about millions of people, again, who are showing up at work every day who are trying to decide or hesitate around should I bring myself or not? And so my advice is, regardless of if we're talking about the LGBTQ+ community or age, or religion, or other things, is to find your trusted few and start there. Who in your organization can you confide in because loneliness is such a problem, and it's going to weigh on you even more.

If you can just find even that one person who you can confide in, that's going to make a big difference. And the other thing I'll say is, how do we just flip the script and take whatever it is that maybe you have some shame around or that you're scared to share and make that thing your superpower? When I was still working as the head of HR for this company, we did a panel, I shared my story.

Someone in the audience emailed me after and said, I've never told anybody this, but I have autism. And I think it would be helpful maybe if I shared my story with the company. So we set up another panel. I did a fireside chat with her. And the fact that she was able to bring that to the company did so much for her confidence. But not only that, how other people then related to her and just knew how to communicate with her better.

And so how do we shift that thing that's maybe we're hiding and make that the thing that actually takes us to the next level? So those are a couple of things I would say.

JOAN WOODWARD: I love, I love making it your superpower. I think that's a wonderful way to think about it. Let's go to something that's out there in society and we have to talk about it. Polarization. Our CEO talks about polarization versus pluralism a lot. He established the Citizen Travelers program here to get more people engaged in a civic manner in a nonpartisan way.

But polarization is worse than ever, according to the Harvard Business Review. You mentioned in your presentation four out of five workers don't want to work with someone with differing views than theirs, one of the most difficult challenges is leaders of organization is facing. So how can the Ripple Effect Leadership help promote trust and amid this bitter disagreement that we have?

CHRIS ROLLINS: Yeah. Well, I think there's an important distinction here, which is that trust can, I believe, coexist with disagreement. I can trust someone I disagree with. I can disagree with my dad, someone I trust. I can disagree with my neighbors, but I let them walk my dog and have them over for a glass of wine, right? But I think it's a lot harder to host or to trust someone who doesn't make you feel valued, who doesn't make you feel seen and heard, who doesn't have a baseline level of kindness and respect towards you, who doesn't show empathy for your perspective.

So I think when there's a lack of those elements, that's where trust becomes a problem. And so the disagreement can coexist with trust. And when you think about it, Ripple Effect Leadership and the framework I shared before is really a foolproof framework for active listening. If you just take those five qualities into the next conversation you have and just ask yourself, am I showing up with these qualities? It's going to really allow you to listen.

And I will tell you a tactic that anybody can use to defuse a situation is when someone's sharing something with you that maybe you disagree with, take a second to report back what you heard, to reflect back to them. And I swear to you-- and I do this in coaching all the time. People just hearing what they said out of your mouth and the words that you use suddenly makes them feel like this person understands.

And so it's a better starting place. And so if we can do that more often, we're going to be able to work through disagreements better than just butting heads all the time.

JOAN WOODWARD: I think that's great advice. I'm taking some questions from the audience because we have a lot on this one topic, and I want to get to it right away. A hybrid workforce. So is the hybrid workforce model making things worse or better when it comes to team building and trusting each other?

CHRIS ROLLINS: Yeah. I don't think the hybrid work model itself is good or bad, or making things better, or worse. I think it's inherently neutral. I think what's important to acknowledge is that however organizations have shifted to a hybrid model, and how that was communicated, and how that was approached is really important. So you may have people who are in a hybrid model right now who are maybe feeling a little bit resentful because they no longer have ownership or a sense of choice, or control over how they work.

And that could be kind of carrying over from how things were before when everybody was forced to go home. And so what I'm hopeful for is that more companies will basically say, I trust that you know how you will work best and kind of give agency to people to explore that. And I also think we have to look at different populations, like working moms.

Working moms tend to be the default parent in the relationship. And so if you're now kind of being brought back into the office, it's impacting schedules with daycare and all of the other responsibilities that you have. So all of that aside and other things being equal, I would say that the hybrid model is making communication a lot more challenging and a lot more important.

And every single day we are encoding and decoding messages, text messages, Slack messages, emails, and that don't have tone or sort of physical cues. And so, to me, with hybrid, it's an invitation to be even more thoughtful about how we're communicating and to bring even more human-centric communication techniques into our day to day.

JOAN WOODWARD: I think that's excellent advice. Overcommunicate for our hybrid models. I want to talk about mental health. As you know, may, next month, is Mental Health Awareness Month. Highly likely that one of your colleagues is dealing with issues impacting their mental health, so I’m going to throw out some stats here. Seventy-three percent of American adults are overwhelmed by a number of crises going on in the world.

More than half of U.S. adults are lonely. Social media is causing the FOMO effect and anxiety and depression. And 42% of Americans are worried that they don't have enough money to pay their bills. So what can we do to help each other out, and, really, just help ourselves? There's so many people really struggling with their mental health. What are your tips? Or what are your ideas?

CHRIS ROLLINS: I feel like I just need to take a deep breath after hearing all those stats thrown at me, because it's sort of like weighs on me the state of how things are. But I'll answer this question through the lens of inclusion and belonging, because I think the antidote to a lack of belonging is connection. And I think that's what a lot of the viewers today are asking about is how to be more connected in a remote or hybrid world and how can we authentically connect with the people that we work with.

So you and I have talked about this a little bit, but two ways, two exercises or things that you can do. One is the sort of red, yellow, green pulse check-in. So just last week I was facilitating a training with a group of about 25 leaders. It was at the end of the day. We all got on to Zoom.

I could see some people were driving in their car. Some people were eating dinner. And I was just like I kind of want to see where the room is right now before I jump into today's training. And so I said, everybody put in the chat where you are red, yellow, green, emotional temperature. And like 95% of the people said yellow and a couple people said green. And that's just sort of what I was sensing from the energy in the room.

And so, I think the more we can take opportunities like that to actually see where people are coming from so we know where to meet them is really helpful in creating connection. And the other thing I love to do is a prompt that I borrowed from the people at Culture Amp, which is if you really knew me, you would know that blank. And so this is something that some of my clients do to kick off meetings when they're meeting with a team for the first time. Maybe if they're at an offsite or a leadership summit, we do this to kick things off.

But it's an invitation to get people into groups to share beneath kind of the surface-level things that we tend to connect on. And people always learn something new about each other. I do this at my keynotes all the time, and it really brings the energy of the room up. And so, we just have to keep getting creative about how to bring people together and connect in ways that don't just talk about the work.

JOAN WOODWARD: Yeah. I mean, companies certainly are aware of the rise in anxiety and mental health challenges for their employees. And a lot of companies, including Travelers, have made a big investment in this mental health arena. So what do you see working best in the employee wellness investments that companies like ours have really taken on in the last several years?

CHRIS ROLLINS: Yeah. It has been a huge lift and a huge investment. There was a recent study, kind of controversial, that looked at 46,000 workers at companies who are offering wellness programs. So things like mindfulness seminars or massage classes, or digital sleep apps, really kind of like the remedies of the problem that it's trying to solve.

And what was interesting is that those remedies didn't really show any difference between people who were enrolled in those and who weren't. And that doesn't mean that we shouldn't focus on wellness. I think what it brought to light was, one, we need more research on this topic. But, two, we have to really look at how the work is getting done, and look at the interventions that we're putting around the work, not just the remedies on the other side of it.

And that's why I think focusing on leadership development is so important, and really spending time to coach our leaders to have conversations that help people feel seen and heard, because how often have we had a manager that's given us anxiety? I know I used to talk to my therapist about my boss all the time. So I think the important thing is that when we're implementing wellness initiatives that they're really tied into interventions and the approach to how we're actually leading teams as well.

JOAN WOODWARD: Great advice. Audience, we're going to take your questions in just a minute. So make sure you drop them in the Q&A feature there. We'll take more questions. We already had that one question on the hybrid workforce. So, Chris, let's get started here. So what is one small step every individual, team or organization can take to get started on these ideas? So what can we do in our own organizations today? Give us one.

CHRIS ROLLINS: Yeah. One thing that I think every single person on this webinar can do that will make the largest difference, that's the simplest thing, is diversify your social feeds. So your LinkedIn feed, your Instagram feed. Start following people who are thought leaders and content creators in different topics and in different areas of expertise. So find the top thought leaders around disability inclusion in the workplace.

Follow thought leaders who talk about the Black experience at work. Follow thought leaders that talk about neurodiversity. There is so much to learn. And if we're already going to be spending time on our feeds consuming content, just diversify the content. And over time, you will learn so much. So that's something that I just wanted to share off the bat, because I think it's a really easy thing to do that's helped me tremendously.

And the other thing is that a lot of the keynotes that I do, the conferences I go to, I bring these pebbles that I actually give to every single attendee. And just last week I had three people come up to me and say, Chris, I still have my pebble. I have it in my pocket every day. I put it on my desk, so that when I get off a bad call or have a bad email, it's a reminder to be the pebble and do the right thing.

And another one who has it in his car. So it doesn't have to be the pebble, but if there's some sort of physical reminder for you to take a pause, get in the right mindset, and bring that more human-centered approach to conversations that you're having. We’re inundated with stimuli. So anything like that that might help is pretty helpful too.

JOAN WOODWARD: Yeah. I love that. And also, keep in mind, as managers, as leaders, sometimes we think giving feedback is once a year thing, where you give it during your performance review. You hope that person heard it. You hope you heard what the person's thinking about your feedback. It has to be throughout the whole year, right? This can't just be a one-time thing.

It's every interaction that you're having. And so again, I think back to a lot of things that I could have said or done differently in my career to have a better outcome. So can you tell us more about the workshops and the leadership labs that you run? How can people get more information? And then we're going to go to questions.

CHRIS ROLLINS: Yeah. So thank you, Joan. This has been so great. My leadership workshops, my Ripple Effect Workshops, are really geared more towards people managers. So where my keynote presentation, which is basically a much deeper version of what I shared earlier, my Ripple Effect Leadership Workshops are really for people managers, cohorts of up to 25, 30, 50 people that really go into the different elements of the framework.

Could be a half day, it could be a full-day workshop. And then my leadership labs are more intense, longer term, like 6- to 12-months programs, where we're not only doing teaching and facilitation, but there's coaching, there's peer-to-peer learning and there's a lot of trust that's just kind of being built through that engagement. So essentially, taking a lot of the principles we talked about today and going deeper and deeper with various folks.

JOAN WOODWARD: OK. We put up Chris's QR code that'll take you to his website if anyone wants to learn more about some of his presentations. I think this is just incredibly important, in today's society, to share this knowledge, which is why we had you on today, Chris. OK, we're going to get to questions. I have a lot coming in. First we're going to go to Sean Graham of Begin Insurance in Ontario. Sean asked, how do you create a company culture while working remotely?

CHRIS ROLLINS: I don't think it's-- so I don't think it's that different from doing it in person. You have to start with the same fundamentals. Asking yourself questions like who are we? Why are we here? And how is the work getting done? And that has to be the basis for how you start to build your culture. When it comes to doing it remotely, that just means, now your communication has to be more consistent, more regular.

And I would also say find your culture champions, who are the people that you can rely on to help carry those messages throughout the organization, so it's not resting on your back or HR's back, or the CEO's back to leverage different people throughout the organization to help support the messaging. And just creating more touchpoints for engagements, highlighting doing spotlights on employees so that people are getting to know who's across the company more, doing panels with employees throughout the year, again, to get to know people better. I think that's really important if we're going to be working together all the time.

JOAN WOODWARD: That's great advice. We do a lot of panel discussions here at Travelers and it's great. It's fantastic. Get to know people. I agree. Next question, Michelle McArdle in Pennsylvania. Can you train someone to have empathy? Good question.

CHRIS ROLLINS: Yes. I think you can definitely train someone to have more empathy. Certainly empathy comes more naturally, I would say, to some people than others. But I think a really important thing about empathy that I've learned is that if you are judgmental about any part of who you are as an individual, it's really hard to hold space for other people's shortcomings, let's say, or things that are different from you.

And so really, there's the kind of hard work of looking at how judgmental am I about myself, because that might be a reflection of how empathetic I'm willing to be with other people. And so you kind of have to be in the right mindset to start that exploration. But it certainly is possible.

JOAN WOODWARD: That's wonderful. Thank you. OK, another question. Ashley Keith of CBIZ asked, what are some small ways that a team can start to trust each other after going through a big team change that left everyone apprehensive? This is a really good question, because teams evolve, right? And we know this. And we might have to reset after kind of maybe something that didn't go so well. So how do we do that? What do-- what do we do to build trust?

CHRIS ROLLINS: It is a really good question. And I've actually been working with some people who had to lead layoffs at their organization, right? So we're talking about big change. And the mistake that I see companies making most often is that the executive team is just so ready to reset, to move on, to get to the next part. And so, there's not enough time that they give for people to grieve the loss of colleagues, to grieve the fact that they may also be anxious about what the future holds for them.

And so rather than jumping into what's next and what's the reset, is to take time to acknowledge, to have conversations, to create space to listen to what people's concerns are. And there's so much vulnerability in doing that. And I think companies fear having those conversations because it's going to feel kind of heavy. But if we don't acknowledge that or create space for that, it's going to be hard to just move on.

And so I think we have to create some space and time in order for teams to reset in a way that feels really clear and aligned with everybody on the team.

JOAN WOODWARD: OK. A couple of quick rapid-fire questions. How do you lead someone who has their guard up and always becomes defensive from a defensive perspective?

CHRIS ROLLINS: It's so challenging. I always say to people, if you can continue to bring this mindset to those conversations, to be kind, to be empathetic, to be curious, to try to influence other people, make sure you're doing everything that you can to do that. If that's not working on its own, then sometimes it takes courage to have that vulnerability and say, hey, can I share some feedback with you?

Or hey, can I share-- do you have some time to talk about how to best work together? I've had some things that have been coming up for me that I think would be helpful for us to talk about. And we just have to get that stuff on the table to really, again, explore the root cause and understand how we can get on the same page about this. And that's really the kind thing to do is to have those conversations, because, otherwise, we're dancing around the topic.

JOAN WOODWARD: OK. This question is coming from two different people. So it's two different kind of ways to think about it, but I think it's the same problem. As a leader, how do you help make a team feel safe when one team member is disengaged and downright negative? That's the first part. OK, so you have a negative team member. Second part says, I've been part of a leadership team that tried this approach, and one person continually sucked the air out of the room and every meeting would shut everyone else down.

Thoughts. So you have one person who's negative and the other person who's just constantly sucking the air out of the room. How do you deal with that?

CHRIS ROLLINS: It all comes back to communication and having these tough conversations with those people. I think so many of us shy away from having those conversations because it's awkward and we don't know how people are going to respond, but we have to go into that with being calm and being willing to listen and understand, and make sure that we're not attacking anyone's personality, we're not attacking someone's character.

We're just putting out facts and showing the impact of those facts and saying, here's what I'm seeing, here's the impact it's having, what are you seeing? And starting-- trying to get on the same side of the table as someone, rather than trying to be on the opposite side of the table and trying to meet somewhere in the middle. So it really comes down to trying to have those conversations directly with those people, because it's just going to be a stressful process.

JOAN WOODWARD: OK, next question here. My manager's goal is for everyone to be "happy, happy, happy," which has led to a culture where we never discuss challenges and are limiting our team's productivity. How can your leadership style help if this manager just wants people to be happy?

CHRIS ROLLINS: Yeah. And you know, it's funny because when I started managing that was sort of my thing. I wanted people to be happy and really that's just having the what's in it for me, and having the flashlight pointed at me, and spotlight on me, and not really thinking about the team. So as someone who's on the team, and that's your manager, kind of would want to know the nuances of the situation, but there has to be accountability for results and for getting things done.

And so maybe part of that for you specifically is sharing with your manager like what you need best in order for you to show up and provide your best work. And maybe that's the next conversation you have with your manager is like, I appreciate so much of your effort to make our team feel happy and here's what else I need in order for me to do my best work. And outline what it is that you need.

JOAN WOODWARD: Right. I like that. I like that. Give the person a guidebook for how you would like to organize the team. That's great. Chris, I could go on and on. There's tons of questions. Let me thank you so much. I thought this was one of the most impactful webinars we've ever had and most important to talk about in the workplace, especially in these times. So I want to thank you so much. Please come back and talk to us in the future.

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Slide, Wednesdays with Woodward (registered trademark) Webinar Series. Text, Take Our Survey. Link in chat. 

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CHRIS ROLLINS: Thank you, Joan. It's an absolute pleasure. 

JOAN WOODWARD: OK. Well, folks, I want to talk to you about what's coming up at the Travelers Institute, but first take our survey. It's in the chat. Tell us what you thought about today's program or other topics or speakers you want us to see. And if you haven't heard, we have a podcast now, the Travelers Institute Risk and Resilience Podcast is now available on Apple, Spotify, Google.

Subscribe today. The link there is in the chat also.

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We also have some amazing programs over the next couple of weeks. On May 15, we're going to get a preview of the upcoming Travelers Championship PGA golf tournament, which is in late June in Hartford. 

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Slide, Upcoming Webinars. Text, Citizen Travelers at the Travelers Institute. A Series on Civic Engagement. May 7- The Importance of Balanced Information and Human Connections in a Pluralist Democracy. Wednesdays with Woodward (registered trademark) Webinar Series. May 15 - From the Driving Range to Driving Change: Inside the Travelers Championship. Register: travelersinstitute.org. 

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June 12, we're going to get an update on the personal insurance marketplace. And last but not least, we're on the road this spring in our National Cybersecurity Education Tour. 

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We hope to see you there in person. All the details are in the chat there. Registration for our San Antonio event is open. So we're going to be there next Monday, next Tuesday, I think, on the 30th. We're dropping a link in the chat if you want to register. So please visit us at the travelersinstitute.org for all our replays and content. 

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So, thanks, folks, for joining us. I really appreciate it. Chris, again, it was amazing. And you're amazing and you're such an inspiring leader that we all should try to implement your Ripple Effect Leadership. And I know I'm going to. And I know my team probably hopes that I do a little bit more of this. So I appreciate it. Thanks all. Be safe and see you in a few weeks. 

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