Belinda Parmar OBE

Global Diversity Campaigner & Corporate Activist, CEO of The Empathy Business & Non-Executive Director for the Ministry of Defence 

Leading with empathy in action

Biography

Belinda works with large companies to implement hundreds of ‘nudges’ and interventions that organically build an empathy revolution and give people simple practical ways they can create more inclusive cultures. Her focus is on belonging and diversity and creating more courageous cultures.

Belinda was Empathy-In-Residence at Barclays, Lloyds and Centrica and she created the first ever Empathy Hub in Europe’s largest bank. Belinda was chosen in 2019 to speak at Davos as she is a Young Global Leader for the World Economic Forum.

Belinda was awarded an OBE in 2015 by the Queen for her services to women in technology. In 2020, she was chosen as one of the top 20 Global Public Figures in Diversity and in 2021 she was voted a top 20 Diversity Champion.

Belinda has a law degree and a languages degree and believes that the magic in companies happens when you combine rational and emotional thinking to drive change.

Belinda is the author of Little Miss Geek which is used in schools to inspire young women to become tech pioneers and is currently shortlisted for Woman of the Year 2022 in the Women in IT Awards.

Topics

Empathy in Leadership
Courageous Cultures embracing diversity
Empathic AI and how AI can bring more emotion to business

WHAT WILL I COVER IN MY TALKS?

  • The Context of Now: How the world of work has transformed, the role of Empathic AI and what this means for leaders.
  • Science and Myths around Empathy: The difference between empathy and sympathy and how you can be empathic whilst building a culture of accountability.
  • EQ-in-Action: Examples of how I have embedded empathy-at-scale at some of the biggest companies in the world using behavioural science and ‘empathy nudges’ with my clients and measured the commercial impact.

HOW DO EACH OF THE TALKS DIFFER?

Empathy in leadership: focuses on the role and power of empathy and practical ways to change a culture.

Courageous cultures embracing diversity: focus on diversity and how companies need to understand diverse colleagues and give them the tools to have an honest conversation.

Empathic AI: how AI can bring more emotion to business: Traditional AI empowers our rational minds, empathic AI will empower our emotional minds. And given the extent to which our decisions as humans are driven by emotions and not reason, AI’s that can intervene at the emotional level will prove to be much more effective in how it revolutionises our working lives. This talk explores the future of AI as well as tools such as ChatGPT 4 and ZOOMIQ that colleagues can use to increase their emotional EQ.

Masterclasses

You may want to go deeper with your audience. Masterclasses can be tailored and developed to suit your audience needs, be it a 90-minute Masterclass, a half-day or full-day workshop or a full online or face-to-face programme. Please contact one of our expert team to discuss.

Empathy Workshop
The world of work has changed forever and demonstrating empathy is now more important than ever. This training session will bust some of the myths around empathy, help you think about your own empathy and show best-in-class examples of empathy in other companies. At The Empathy Business we are experts at embedding empathy at scale in large companies. Commercial opportunity of empathy: More empathic companies make more money. They grow faster, have more productive staff and deliver more to their shareholders.

The sessions cover:
1. Shattering the myths of empathy
2. How you can start to think about your own empathy in times of conflict
3. The power of language and how you can use language to ensure inclusivity and increase productivity.
4. Examples of how other companies embed empathy using behavioural science and ‘empathy nudges.’

At the end of the workshop, you will have…
1. Tools and techniques of how you can lead with more empathy remotely or at work.
2. Created a safer environment for your neurodiverse population to have their voices heard.
3. ‘Empathy Nudges’ and micro actions for post Covid-19 so you can sustain the learning and
growth of your leaders and the business.

Some of the areas we focus on are:
EMPATHY IN MEETINGS
This section will show you examples of how to communicate with purpose and empathy in
online/face to face meetings and use technology in a more human way.
EMPATHY IN LANGUAGE
This section will focus on the power of language and how you can use language to ensure inclusivity
and increase productivity.

Inclusion Masterclasses
A series of workshops, 5 x empathy workshops plus a follow up 6 weeks later. We’d bring a hostage negotiator and develop a scalable programme that you can re-use in house.

The workshops are focusing on language and how to have difficult conversations and create a sense of belonging.

The workshops will answer 3 questions:
1. How do you lead and communicate with empathy remotely?
2. How do you sustain and measure empathy and your humanness beyond Covid-19?
3. How can you support your BAME population and ensure they have a bigger voice?

Testimonials

“Just wanted to give you some feedback on Belinda, who spoke at our IWD event today as we really couldn’t have asked for a better speaker. She took the time to prep with us (more than once), she really listened to our goals for the event and tailored her content with examples to match our audience expectations. Her delivery on the day was incredible; personable, funny, authentic and solicited really strong feedback from our attendees. We would absolutely recommend her to other businesses looking for someone to speak in her area of expertise and please don’t hesitate to contact me if anyone needs a reference.” – Laura Hillier, Marketing Director EMEA Bullhorn

“Belinda led a half-day empathy workshop for our AB inBev Direct-to-Consumer People (HR) team and it was the perfect session to upskill our team members on this important quality. Belinda really stepped in and got to know our team, our organisation and the individuals in the session, which meant the workshop was perfectly tailored to our specific needs and challenges. It was clear that during the session, the team responded to this and instantly connected and felt safe with Belinda. Belinda is a true expert when it comes to Empathy, but her super-power is bringing this to life within a corporate environment, to draw out the “so what?” and bring people on the journey with her. Whilst we loved the session, the whole team were left wanting more and I know this is therefore only the start of us working together with Belinda! Thank you again Belinda and team.”
– Annie Gorman, Global Head of People, DTC AB-InBev

“I had a chance to participate in a talk with Belinda Bianca Parmar OBE as ABB’s Explore. Own. Accelerate. -program. What an inspiring hour we had! Loved every second!” – Johanna Keturi, Talent ABB

“Belinda has far exceeded my expectations in terms of content and delivery. I also really appreciated her patience with the technology set-up, and her openness in tailoring her presentation to the ABB context. I have had several messages from employees who have mentioned listening to “one of the best presentations” they have had this year.” ABB

“It was an empowering session and I personally found Belinda’s way of influencing and storytelling very inspiring. I will be applying the lessons learned in my professional and personal life.’Matt Hammonds, NHS

“Just wanted to feedback what a great session we had with Belinda yesterday. She was a really engaging presenter and got the audience really interested in a subject that is quite unusual for scientists. The site manager (whose budget I used to pay for this) said “I walked around the Technology office after lunch yesterday and colleagues were talking about the session and how insightful it was.”
– Helen Clear, Head of Communications Infineum

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