172 The importance of empathy in leadership with Sharon Tuffin

Subscribe to the podcast here. Listen on iTunes here. Listen on Spotify here. You'd be hard pressed to find a more composed and humble leader than Sharon Tuffin, CEO of Karralika, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation service. Challenged by a coach to align values and behaviour in all aspects of her life, Sharon ended up serving on the Board of Karralika, then became staff, then CEO. She gravitated towards the values of the place, and helped consolidate her own in doing so. In this interview be inspired by Sharon's no frills insights into leadership and the tough stuff. 👉🏼 Want to share your experience? Ask a question? Share a resource? Jump on our podcast Facebook page here. Why you should listen: The critical component to leadership is to stay open to new ideas: Sharon shares how to ask correctly framed questions How to systematically address culture challenges How to break free from limiting beliefs about being creative We explore: The liberating shift away from just being focused on achieving goals to emphasising the journey as well What keeps a CEO up at night: wondering if the staff have enough support, skills and resources to deliver on the organisation's promise. The paradox of creativity and structure *** SHOWNOTES: www.zoerouth.com/podcast/sharontuffin Books mentioned: Peter Cook's The New Rules of Management Charlene Li's the Disruption Mindset Chip and Dan Heath's Switch About Sharon Tuffin: Sharon is the Chief Executive Officer for Karralika Programs, having previously held the role of Services Director for 4 years. As CEO, Sharon is responsible for bringing the mission and strategic direction of Karralika Programs to life for the team, our clients and the community. Over the past 7 years, Sharon has led change in the organisation to strengthen the culture and purpose of the organisation as well as operational effectiveness and efficiency. She has driven the establishment of critical partnerships and supported sector-wide initiatives to better meet community needs. Sharon has more than 25 years experience in the health and social policy fields across government, private sector and community sector organisations. She develops strong partnerships and has extensive experience in developing, implementing and evaluating programs and policies at national and local levels. Sharon is passionate about building the capacity of the workforce, improving service quality and client outcomes and building the evidence-base for best practice. She is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Fellow of the Institute of Managers and Leaders and has a commitment to good governance. She holds several Board Director positions with not for profit organisations in the ACT in the drug and alcohol community services sectors and has a Bachelor of Science (Hons) and a Postgrad Diploma in Population Health. *** Related Episodes: E163 - How to be a wise and compassionate leader with CEO Barnie Van Wyck E162 - How to be calm AND vulnerable in a crisis with CEO Jenny Kitchin E145 - Coronavirus: Make a decision today, change it later - with CEO Toni Pergolin *** About your podcast host, Zoë Routh: Zoë Routh is one of Australia's leading experts on people stuff - the stuff that gets in our way of producing results, and the stuff that lights us up. She works with the growers, makers, builders to make people stuff fun and practical. Zoë is the author of four books: Composure - How centered leaders make the biggest impact,  Moments - Leadership when it matters most, Loyalty - Stop unwanted stuff turnover, boost engagement, and build lifelong advocates, and People Stuff - Beyond Personalities: An advanced handbook for leadership. People Stuff was awarded Book of the Year 2020 by the Smart WFM Australian Business Book Awards. Zoë is also the producer of The Zoë Routh Leadership Podcast. www.zoerouth.com