Fostering Empathy and Trust for Human-Centered Leadership
Episode Notes
Join Paul Wolfe as he engages in a captivating conversation with Virginia Campoy, a Senior Client Success Specialist at Indeed. Discover the power of empathy-driven leadership and the profound impact it has on fostering authentic connections in the workplace. Virginia's journey exemplifies the essence of human-first leadership, as she shares insights on building trust, creating psychological safety, and the transformative role of genuine empathy. Gain valuable perspectives on how to cultivate a culture of kindness, understanding, and support, ultimately enhancing not only organizational success but also the well-being and fulfillment of individuals within the workforce. Tune in to unleash the potential of authentic human connections in the realm of leadership.
About the Guest
Virginia Campoy
Sr. Client Success Specialist
Indeed
Virginia Campoy is a bilingual Spanish Human Resources professional dedicated to cultivating a thriving organizational culture and nurturing exceptional talent. With advanced expertise in recruiting and sourcing for roles of various complexities, Virginia goes above and beyond to exceed recruitment goals and minimize turnover by strategically matching the right candidates to the right positions. She possesses a knack for formulating effective recruitment sourcing plans and leveraging talent acquisition strategies. With strong organizational skills, meticulous attention to detail, and the ability to work well under pressure, Virginia maintains a calm and professional demeanor that inspires confidence. Her dynamic interpersonal, management, and networking skills have proven instrumental in successfully recruiting candidates at all levels, from entry to executive and professional positions. Virginia brings a wealth of experience in healthcare recruitment, including dental positions and medical professionals for hospitals, long-term care facilities, and assisted living. Prior to her HR career, she served as a Senior Social Worker and state-certified Mediator for the County of Orange, CA, and holds a Master's degree in Social Work from USC, which informs her unique insight into prescreening and interviewing methodologies.
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0:15
Hello and welcome to another weekly episode of 52 humans, the vlog cast on stories of human first leadership.
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I'm your host, Paul Wolf, and I've created this show to inspire us all to transform our workplaces by returning to the humanity that binds us today.
0:30
I'm so looking forward to my conversation with Virginia Campoy.
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Virginia is a senior clients success specialist at indeed a champion of diversity, inclusion and belonging and an all around amazing human being.
0:42
Virginia.
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Welcome to the show.
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I'm so honored and privileged to be here, Paul.
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Thank you for inviting.
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It is my privilege to have you on the show.
0:50
We were talking just before we started recording or we started the, the conversation.
0:54
And you said that as you're coming back to the office people like, oh, that's Virginia, you're Virginia.
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And I said, everyone had indeed knows Virginia like that.
1:03
That's the thing.
1:04
That's the beauty of, of you and who you are and what you bring to the table.
1:08
So talk to us a lot about what you do, what you do and indeed, as a senior client support specialist, thank you.
1:14
You know, I always say that we are the sum total of all our experiences.
1:18
I actually have experience as a master level social worker and I was an investigator for child abuse cases for many years and worked in victimology.
1:28
And then I ended up in the trail of my career and being accepted as a tech specialist here.
1:35
And indeed, and now I currently manage over 300 accounts with a couple of executive account executives and we just make sure that we're partnering with our clients and maybe that's part of the humanness, you know, I try not to just approach them like, hi, you know, are you getting your hires?
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I want to know them.
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How are you?
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Who are you?
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This is who I am.
2:00
And surprisingly, I usually start off my conversations with hi friend.
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This is your friend Virginia from indeed.
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But that's, that's so, that's beautiful.
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and I love the fact that kind of your early experiences and, and coming to indeed, and a new experience, but all of that takes human, human touch if you will.
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, and that's the one thing when the first time I met you and got introduced to you.
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It was like, oh my gosh, like I just want to talk to her for hours because you've got such sage advice.
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You are a champion of all things and you have always have such a positive attitude, but you see people for who they are which is beautiful.
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We're all, I mean, that's the one thing that makes us human in the world.
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We're all are the same in the world.
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We're all human beings.
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So talk to us a little bit.
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Tell us your story of, of human first leadership.
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If you will human first, you know, it's just about being kind, it's about empathy, it's about patience and you know, whatever feedback.
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So even if I'm on a conversation with a client and they seem to be triggered, I'll stop and just say, are you OK?
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Can do you wanna talk about anything else or would you like me to hang up because it isn't always about just business.
3:20
You know, we interact with people moment by moment and I always think about how I wanna leave that person with grace with kindness.
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Am I perfect in every conversation?
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Not really, but I do my best sometimes I have to put myself on hold and express myself a different way and then come back on and regroup.
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But honestly, it's just about being genuine.
3:50
I remember being introduced to a manager and being led by someone who had empathy.
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And I i it's kind of a rare thing.
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I mean, I understand that there are metrics.
4:02
But what a joy to be under the direction of a manager who cared, you know, in the beginning of indeed, I didn't want people to think I was stupid because I didn't know, tech.
4:15
this was new, new, new, it's like even my Children said what you tech.
4:23
And so, you know, over the years I have learned and I've learned to ask for help.
4:28
I've learned to be vulnerable, but it was this particular manager that said I can't help you if you won't let me know where you need me to help you.
4:37
Help me help you is what he was saying and I had to build or at least he built the trust that I would be able to say these are my weaknesses and, and then hopefully not worry that he was gonna label me as a something else kind of a human, you know.
4:56
but it's building that trust, it's leading by example, it's connecting, you know, one on our, one on ones rather than going to the stats, you're doing good.
5:07
You need this da da da.
5:09
How about a check in?
5:10
How are you, is that how he built?
5:14
So you're so right about the trust because that's psychological safety.
5:17
Like you've got to be comfortable with who you're sharing it with, especially in a leadership employee role so that they're not gonna label you as something the, the way you said it.
5:27
How did he, how did he build that trust with you?
5:30
Did, was it by asking how you were doing or kind of, can you give us some examples how he built that trust?
5:36
I think he's just saw my concern and my lack of performance and the gap of knowledge.
5:46
And so, and he didn't pinpoint it in a way that was accusatory.
5:50
He just said, I, I see some trends, I see some things and I'm wondering if you and I can talk about that so how we can get you support.
6:01
And I was relieved actually because it was like calling it out in such a gentle way because for me, the more you pull me, I'm kind of like a horse.
6:11
If you pull me, I'm gonna pull back.
6:15
And so he was gentle in creating that conversation.
6:19
And I generally shared and the more I shared, the more I felt trust was there and then I could divulge the rest.
6:28
And then what happened was that, you know, we determined that maybe I needed retraining and that I would, you know, so we dedicated certain blocks of time for me to go back to a trainer and like a work case by case or whatever the issue was.
6:43
And he created that space, knowing that I might not perform my everyday tasks at the same level, but knowing that I'm gonna get there and he even created a theme for me and I use it all the time still.
6:58
He said for you, Virginia in order for you to speed up, slow down, slow down to speed up.
7:05
I mean, that's great advice just in life.
7:10
You know, I, so I, I love the way that like he kind of helped you come out of your shell or feel comfortable enough talking about what you need to help with.
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Because I think it is hard for some, for workers, sometimes employees to say, hey, I don't understand this or I don't know how to do this or I just don't get this.
7:29
because there is so much, there are times where leaders and these are the other, the examples of nonhuman first leadership where they people get labeled or judged.
7:37
And there's this quote that floats around that is attributed to Walt Whitman that I love that.
7:41
Walt Walt Whitman never said it.
7:43
Supposedly, but it's supposedly it is be curious, not judgmental and that's what he was with you because that's what popped into my mind when you were telling that story is he asked questions like, what is it?
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How are you doing?
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We're seeing trends.
7:58
It wasn't like, let's look at the data right away.
8:00
It's like, how do I ease into this conversation to try and make Virginia comfortable enough to trust me and open up about what's going on.
8:09
And this is who he is as a human with everyone.
8:13
The magic too is that he could get a pulse of everyone on the team of what they were best at.
8:21
And if there was a gap in the team that needed a role that needed to be filled he found a human that would, had a, a natural ability that the rest of us didn't have.
8:31
And so together, we were all so bonded and helped each other genuinely because we loved him, we loved us.
8:41
And it, it would just created a synergy that worked.
8:45
Yeah.
8:46
And then just like finding those skill sets that you need just creates a more well rounded, well oiled machine if you will.
8:53
And the fact that you like he was this human at the center of that sounds like it created a very human centered team in general, which is nobody happens.
9:02
Nobody left that team, the retention value on that team.
9:06
Nobody moved for three years.
9:08
Paul So and that's unheard of in a tech environment.
9:11
Very unusual.
9:13
So, I, I try to follow the modalities that he taught me in my everyday and I, I generally bring that to my new team now.
9:24
And actually I try to echo that with the one on ones at age at our inclusive inclusive resource group.
9:33
that I follow his same pattern.
9:35
How are you friend?
9:36
What are you doing?
9:38
And, and how are you doing?
9:40
And in the back of my head, I'm thinking, OK, but this, this part needs to be fulfilled by you.
9:44
And how can I say it in a way that's gonna make you excited to complete this task and realize that this is part of the deal that I should we shouldn't have to re re talk about this too much, you know.
9:58
Well, it also sounds like you use that with your clients too.
10:00
Hello, friend.
10:01
You approach them as humans versus just a client that's, you know, paying for something indeed is providing to them.
10:08
Correct.
10:08
And it was so funny because I started off at shared on the main line and my coworkers, you know, we're all out in the front, in the open and they would hear me.
10:16
Hi, this is Virginia your friend from?
10:18
Indeed, how can I help?
10:19
And instead of saying defensive words like, ok, but ok, but you know, see this, I would say what else is bothering you, what else give it to me, you know, because most people just want to be heard.
10:37
Most people wanna be validated, whether they're upset or whether they're happy, whether they're crying, what whatever emotion is being evoked, just validation of that moment is important.
10:51
Absolutely.
10:52
Virginia.
10:53
So I could talk to you for hours.
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But, I, and I still appreciate you being you.
11:00
because I was lucky enough to be able to work with you while I was at.
11:03
Indeed and get to know a little bit more about Virginia through my role there and, and supporting the, the inclusion resource groups there.
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And I adore you.
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I think indeed is lucky to have you.
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Any company would be lucky to have an employee like Virginia on their staff So thank you so much for sharing with our viewers today.
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Your story of human first leadership.
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My pleasure.
11:24
Anytime.
11:28
Thanks for joining us today on 52 humans.
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If you enjoyed this, please give me a follow to be notified of future episodes.
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I so appreciate all of your support.
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If you want to watch past episodes or you have a story of human first leadership that you'd like to share.
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Please go to Paul Wolf dot com forward slash 52 humans.
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And lastly as I do each week, I'd like to ask that each of you think of one way that you can bring greater empathy to your workplace.
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It's these small acts of humanity and kindness that create a better work culture and ultimately a better world.
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I'm Paul Wolf and I'll see you next time on 52 humans.