The Empowering Women Podcast

Hope is a Leadership Skill with Jen Fisher

Empowering Women in Industry Season 8 Episode 7

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 50:37

May is Mental Health Awareness Month - a time to pause and rethink how we care for ourselves and the people around us. Because the truth is, many of us are running fast… and, let’s be honest, running tired.

In this episode of the Empowering Women Podcast, Shannon sits down with workplace wellbeing expert, keynote speaker, and author Jen Fisher to explore a powerful idea: hope isn’t just a feeling—it’s a leadership skill.

Jen shaped the conversation around wellbeing as the first-ever Chief Wellbeing Officer at Deloitte, helping organizations rethink burnout, human sustainability, and what it truly means to lead people—not just manage performance.

But Jen’s work didn’t start in a boardroom. It started with her own experience navigating burnout and discovering that real hope is not passive. It’s intentional. It’s actionable. And it can transform the way we lead, work, and live.

Together, Shannon and Jen unpack why hope matters more than ever in today’s world of work, how leaders can cultivate it within their teams, and why the smallest steps forward often create the biggest change.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed, burned out, or unsure how to keep moving forward - this conversation the breath of fresh air you’ve been looking for.

And maybe a reminder that hope isn’t naïve. It’s strategic.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Kuz0wuf9NKY

💬 Gems from Jen:

“I want you to behave and lead in a way that inspires hope.”

“Do you want to be the leader of a hopeful organization or a hopeless organization?”

“Hope requires three things. It requires a goal, clarity around that goal, pathways to reach it, and the agency to actually impact change.”

“Real hope requires action.”

“Eleven years ago we weren't having these conversations in the workplace—we weren’t talking about well-being, and we certainly weren’t talking about burnout.”

“If one pathway is blocked, you can switch and say: that didn’t work, what did I learn? I’m going to move to the next pathway.”


🔗 Episode Resources & Links:

🌐 Connect with Jen Fisher

 

💼 Media to Explore

 

📚 Books & Research Mentioned

 

EMPOWERING WOMEN IN INDUSTRY LINKS

Empowering Women in Industry Membership

Empowering Women in Industry Magazine

Empowering Women in Industry Website

Empowering Women in Industry Carolinas Conference

Empowering Women in Industry Virtual Events