"Which degree of perfection triggers that ‘i-need-that-in-my-face-now’ kind of desire? At which point does it become unrealistic, clinical, or just plain boring?"

Tom's got a new book. https://geni.us/uTtyCYr and this is a great chance to talk to the original and still champ... Tom's ranting about empathy and work…

The Book - Coming Soon from Simon & Schuster! We don't have a release date yet, but I'll update this...

Frequent, big, emotional ups and down in content make it more engaging. For example, a 31.75% increase in volatility in movies is associated with a 1-point higher rating on IMDb.

Better diversity programs can't happen until we all (speaking mostly to myself, here) get comfortable talking about diversity. How do you walk the line between being aware (and owning) one's privilege, and being one of those "more-woke-than-thou" types. The HBR, who might know a thing or two about privilege, have some thoughts on the subject of talking about diversity.

Related to that, HBR asks if you give your employees a reason to feel proud of what they do? I'd add in, do you ask employees to share that pride when talking with their own networks?

When I talk about how to build an employer brand in a company with diverse microcultures, I usually reference a company's legal team and sales teams as the most disparate groups. One is driven by taking risks and the other is driven by negating them. But the trick is, I really don't know much about how corporate legal teams work, do you? Which is why I'm pointing to this article entitled "Does your legal team spark joy?" To me, it was an interesting perspective that even the dry and boring legal team can have and develop their culture. As they support the business, you can be supporting them by telling a more interesting and intimate story about them.

I know I'm in the minority when I say that I don't know that "day in the life" videos are not how I would want to learn about a company (my quibble: they can be as staged and fake as any other marketing device, and frankly, what your office looks like and what meetings look like don't tell me much). But they are obviously a part of many company's employer brands, so if you're going to build them, maybe build them well. William Tincup says the secret to a good video is a focus on hypertransparency and radical candor.

The bitter and cynical black-hearted part of me really loved this article on brands and emotional dishonesty. All those brands projecting sunny dispositions and unrelenting positivity, are they really getting what they want? Are they applying a short-lived salve to soothe people's pains without actually changing anything? And in the world of employer brand, where there's no such thing as "short-term fixes," what would happen if brands embraced emotional honesty?

I can't be the only one who feels the hesitation and mild panic that comes from occasional work-induced anxiety. I would expect it to be somewhat endemic within our industry (though I have no data to back that up). So if you need a primer on how to think (and breathe) your way through anxiety at work, HBR has something for you.

You can't convince anyone of anything using only logic (see: reddit political forums, twitter political chats, et al). You need an emotional reaction, after which, the listener will find the logic to justify their new position. I ended up podcasting a bit about this idea, but here's a solid article if this is a subject that interests you.

Big Read of the Week: Employer brand walks a tightrope between reflecting what it and influencing it towards where it should be. To that end, we need to be a little big disruptive all the time. But the word "disruptive" tends to scare people (especially people in HR). Which is why I really enjoyed this article on how love (yes "love") can and should be used to empower your disruption strategy.

If 86% of all consumers say it is "critical" of brands to show empathy, where are you in these conversations?

You might assume that HR is in the "people" business. That's partially true. They are on the rules side of people: what the staff can expect from leadership, what staff are allowed to do, arbitrating disagreements, etc. But HR isn't often in the "empathy business." And I would suggest that that's exactly what you do: understand why people like (and don't like working somewhere, extracting it, distilling it, reflecting it and amplifying it. So when I see articles about how businesses need to embrace empathy to succeed, I think, "How can EB'ers use this idea to make a bigger impact on the business?"

Empathy is the new marketing.

Brands are things humans build feelings around. Are you thinking about what emotions you want to encourage and when?

Let’s talk about influencers. Not the Fyre Festival type, but the people in your ecosystem who are creating content to connect with internal and external audiences. The people who influence others to consider working here. This is more than simple “advocacy,” or even tactical referrals, this is about helping your own influencers these people build emotional connections, which is what sparks longer-term relationships.

Trying to grow your brand without emotion (I mean, we are in the people business, right?) is a mistake. But leveraging emotion isn’t necessarily obvious or simple. It helps to understand your talent targets’ needs and desires.

Since organized brands were first introduced over 100 years ago alongside industrialism, they have changed their nature and role in society. Brands have When our favorite brands exceed the expectation we have of them, by giving us a surprise, we get more excited and our interest in and loyalty to the brand increases.

Can a brand help make people happy? No, really. Our brands offer people feels of opportunity, freedom, education, community, support, prestige, and any number of other things, but are they making someone happy? Beyond the initial “I got the job!” elation, can and should an employer brand create happiness?