Rehumanising WorkÂ
Welcome to this month's edition of Rehumanising Work. Your monthly dose of ideas and tools to help you create more emotionally connected leaders, teams, and now, stakeholder experiences.
This month, we’re diving into the world of Emotional Stakeholder Engagement, and asking a simple but powerful question: How do the people you serve actually feel?
Because stakeholder engagement isn’t a communications problem. It’s an emotional one. Better messaging won’t fix a broken relationship. But emotional connection will.
This month, you'll discover:
- 1 ECD Activity | To experiment:Â Stakeholder Check-In
- 2 Pieces of Content | To Inspire:Â Leaders Must Engage with Emotions as Never Before &Â 3 Ways to Make All Your Stakeholders Feel Heard
- 1 Book | To Discover:Â How to Fall in Love with Questions by Elizabeth Weingarten
- ECDTV Episode:Â Elephant Rider Insights with Mel Howell
- Upcoming Course: Emotional Stakeholder Engagement Course + In Person ECD Specialist Courses around the world.
Scroll down to discover more about rehumanising the places we work and live...
Latest R&E Updates Â
1 ECD Activity: To ExperimentÂ
ECD Stakeholder Check-In Conversation
Purpose: A simple first step to build awareness of how your stakeholders might be feeling.
Step 1: Pick 5–7 black or white cards that you think best describe how your stakeholders feel right now.
Step 2:Â Reflect on why you chose those cards.
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What do you think is going on for your stakeholder?
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Why might they be feeling that way?
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What can you do to manage the unpleasant (white card) emotions?
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What are you doing—or what’s happening—that’s helping spark the positive (black card) emotions?
That’s it. No right or wrong answers—just a way to build awareness and spark better conversations.
Now imagine sitting down with your stakeholder and doing this together.
That’s exactly what our ECD Stakeholder Check-In Conversation Guide is designed for.
ECD Stakeholder Check-In Conversation Guide
2Â Pieces of Content:Â
To Inspire
Here are two pieces of content that I hope will help you see the world slightly differently and provoke you to do the work that matters to humanise the workplace.Â
HBS Professor Linda Hill Says Leaders Must Engage with Emotions as Never BeforeÂ
In this video, Linda Hill challenges leaders to reimagine their role—not just as decision-makers, but as emotional connectors. In today’s world, emotional engagement isn’t optional. It’s essential.
3 Ways to Make All Your Stakeholders Feel Heard
– by by David Pastoriza, Africa Ariño and Ramon Casadesus-Masanell
This classic HBR article shows that emotionally connected customers are more valuable than merely satisfied ones. It breaks down why emotion is a stronger driver of behaviour than logic, and what organisations can do to build those deeper connections.
1 Book:Â
To Discover
Discover the books that inspire our work at R&E. Covering emotions, leadership, change, and culture.
How to Fall in Love with Questions by Elizabeth Weingarten
This book is a beautiful reminder that great engagement starts with great questions. In a world obsessed with certainty and answers, Weingarten invites us to get curious instead, to slow down, ask better questions, and listen more deeply.
It’s especially relevant for anyone rethinking how they connect with the people they serve and lead people through uncertainty. If we want to rehumanise the experiences we design, we have to fall in love with what we don’t yet know.
A must-read for emotionally connected leaders and changemakers.
Check it out here >Upcoming Courses
Shift from Transaction to Connection
Online Cohort-Based Course
Too often, stakeholder engagement is a checklist. This course flips that. You’ll learn how to design experiences that move people. Helping you lead with emotion, build trust, and create stronger relationships that go beyond surface-level interactions.
Click here to learn more about the Emotional Stakeholder Engagement Course >
Join the Waitlist Now - Only 30 Spots
We’re opening just 30 places next week for our upcoming next Emotional Stakeholder Engagement Online Course. Join the waitlist and you’ll get 24 hours early access before enrolments open to the public. That gives you the best chance to grab a spot before they’re gone. No obligation. Just a head start.Â
Upcoming In-Person
ECD Specialist Courses
Explore all the upcoming in-person ECD Specialist Courses delivered by ECD Certified Consultants & Masters around the world. Find a course near you, meet the consultant leading it, and dive deeper into The Emotional Culture Deck.
Something I've been pondering...
Â
I always wondered why progress feels so good and setbacks sting so much. The Progress Principle by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer finally helped me understand... The emotional core of The Power of Small Wins is simple: Progress sparks positive emotions. Setbacks trigger negative emotions.
Positive emotions like joy, pride, and satisfaction fuel motivation, creativity, and performance. Negative emotions like frustration and sadness drain energy and hurt performance.
Emotions at work aren’t random. They’re shaped by whether people feel they’re moving forward or stuck.
Small emotional shifts every day build up to massive impacts over time.
Managers and leaders have a real superpower. They can directly influence emotions by helping people experience daily progress and meaningful wins.
Performance is powered by how much progress people feel they’re making.
ECDTV.
New ways. New ideas. New answers. New perspectives. Watch the latest ECDTV videos here...
In this special episode, we sit down with Mel Howell, one of the most courageous Elephant Riders in our community. Mel shares what drives her, what inspires her, and how The Emotional Culture Deck has completely shaped the way she connects with people.
Her work has played a pivotal role in how we’ve developed tools and frameworks for designing more human stakeholder and customer experiences. From creating powerful shifts in workplaces to having deeply personal conversations with her kids, Mel shows how The ECD opens people up quickly, and makes space for conversations that truly matter.
What you might have missed...
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We hear you.
At riders&elephants we believe in people’s right to express themselves and to tap their emotions to challenge and shift behaviours. Our games help people speak their truth through simple, powerful words. It’s time to lay your cards on the table.
Join us here now >
