I’m going to bet that you are a lot like me. I say that because if you’re reading this blog you probably spend a good amount of time on the Internet. You probably have a LinkedIn profile, a Facebook profile, you might even have a twitter account, Instagram and pinterest accounts. I firmly believe that each and every one of those networks/applications probably adds some real pleasure to your life. I know they do mine.

And while I do think we can spend way too much time online, it’s a wonderful thing when the time you do spend online actually wakes up your off-line life. That happened to me the other day on Facebook. A friend of mine posted something that was potentially politically polarizing. Potentially religiously polarizing. Heck, it’s on Facebook therefore it is polarizing to begin with. But in his comments he said:

I don’t want to start a discussion, an argument or a thread. I would prefer you just take it in and add it to you own heart on the subject as information. If you ever want to make it a conversation, we can do that, but face to face where our hearts are present.

Think about that for just a second. He said happy to discuss but let’s do it in real life. When our hearts are present.

That sums up the difference between communicating via digital mediums and communicating in real life. And I put telephone Skype, virtual reality in that real-life genre. I think when you’re talking online and connecting with people in a digital realm it is easy to not bring your emotional side to things. Or more accurately, ignore the impact of your emotions. We’ve all been witness to folks getting upset and emotional online. But that’s a one way thing. It is them venting to you (or to the world more accurately.) I am confident those same people would not act that way if somebody was sitting across the table from them having that same conversation. I believe that the minute we jump into the digital world from an analog one we lose empathy and sympathy.

It is only in the real world where our heart is present and where we can really have engagement and connection.

And that leads me to this…

90 Minute Webinar on Humanizing Your Workplace With Stay Interviews

Next week on Wednesday, August 26th at 3:00 pm EDT I’ll be doing a seminar on stay interviews. It’s called uniquely enough…  “Stay Interviews – Humanizing Your Workplace”.

It is a 90 minute webinar approved for 1.5 HCI credits and includes a copy of the discussion and some handout/worksheets. You can click here for a complete description and pricing.

In this discussion I’ll be talking about this very thing – why bringing your heart to a conversation will impact your business. I will also talk about why stay interviews are important, what they are, how you should structure them and the questions you should ask.

stayinterview buttonBut most importantly I’ll be talking about why they are critical from a human standpoint.

I hope to see you next Thursday. I’ll post a little more on this later, but I wanted to alert you to it right now. I want to plant the seed in your mind that the next time you’re having a digital conversation with somebody ask this question:

Is my heart present and how can I make that happen?