I'm Andrew Phipps and I've changed the way I live my life. Let me explain what I mean before you think this is some sort of cult and I'm trying to entice you to give away all your worldly possessions to join me. It's not and I'm not!

I developed my career to a point where I was a corporate exec holding a 'Global Head of...' title, leading a team numbering in the hundreds, accountable for one of the most critical areas of the business and never switching off. I convinced myself I loved what I did, that I loved the always on mentality I had, feeling proud of not being able to do anything outside of work because I was 'too busy' (secretly perhaps telling myself I was 'too important') and that work was my happy place.

A couple of events changed my life. I parted from my corporate role, had a family bereavement, and started seeing a therapist. I just knew that something in my life wasn't aligned, I felt out of place within myself. I've managed mental fitness issues for decades and had the self-awareness to realise that things just weren't ok. I've always been dissatisfied, always thought there is more I should be doing, more I could be achieving, more I owe to myself and to others. It took far less time than I expected to realise that all the things I'd truly believed I cared about in my career were insignificant in light of what I actually care about. People, it's always been about people.

Organisations often state that people are the most important asset they have, that they are a people-led business, that they are all about the talent. Really, is that really what they actually believe, what they hold as their core value? I think for a large proportion it is what they'd like to think but often the mere fact of doing business, of being a business gets in the way. We've lost sight of what it is to truly understand one another. The connections we're able to make with people across the world, the 24-7 news media, the social media scrolling, the digital pathways we encounter, all intended to make our lives better have done the one thing they were meant to overcome. They have reduced our ability to show empathy. As a world, as nations, as people, we're more divided, mistrustful, insular than before we had access to all the knowledge of the the world at the touch of a screen.

So what?
I've changed my life and realigned my ambition. I have one singular focus, one ambition, one aim in life. To guide people to recognise that empathy is our superpower. I work with people and organisations to embrace empathy and to use the power it brings to better understand others, to build relationships, to grow businesses, to feel the value of empathy when it's embedded within a person, a team, a business, an industry.

There are no limits to what empathy offers, that's why I started Empathy Unbound. To work with people that know there is more to life than the way things are today, that sense they want to operate in a different, more meaningful, and to create more value for more people along the way.

Actions shout louder than words
I've always believed that making things too difficult is a trait of those who aim to fail. Our incredibly short history as homosapiens has proven just how much we can achieve, as individuals and as groups. I am passionate about just getting on with it, we don't need to make things that difficult, what's the worst that can happen? Something doesn't work so we try something else!

My life is spent doing all I can to embed empathy into every aspect of life, I am open, vulnerable, honest and truthful. I've launched a podcast platform where amazing people give their time to bring stories to you, to share their lived experience about what empathy brings. I offer coaching to individuals looking to change their outlook, wanting to bring empathy into their lives. I work with organisations of all sizes, locations, sectors and ambition to measure their current levels of empathy and partner with them to embed empathy as a meaningful superpower. I offer talks, workshops, tailored programs, one-off open sessions, and clarity around what I believe can be achieved. It's only when we truly embrace empathy that we can be the best version of ourselves and achieve what is important for the people we work alongside.