Leading with Empathy: Building Teams That Thrive

About this episode

Blake Oliver discusses empathetic leadership with Lisa Gilreath and Valerie Heckman, focusing on team support and mental health in the accounting industry.

On the fifth stop of the Advisory Amplified tour in Atlanta, Blake sits down with Lisa Gilreath of Acuity and Valerie Heckman of OnPay to discuss what empathetic leadership actually looks like in an industry notorious for long hours and tight deadlines. The conversation covers everything from recognizing when team members are struggling to handling toxic high performers, with real talk about building slack into capacity planning and why unused PTO is a red flag. Lisa and Valerie share concrete steps for creating a culture where people feel supported enough to lean in when it matters most. Chapters (01:17) - Defining Empathy in Accounting (02:24) - Implementing Processes to Reduce Stress (03:26) - Balancing Workloads and Mental Health (10:15) - Client Relationships and Empathy (16:42) - Adapting to Change and Hiring for the Future (19:07) - Using Data to Spot Problems Early (24:35) - Handling Toxic High Performers (26:22) - Practical Tips for Leading with Empathy (30:55) - Conclusion and Final Thoughts Sign up to get free CPE for listening to this podcast https://earmarkcpe.com https://earmark.app/ Download the Earmark CPE App Apple…

People in this episode

Host: Blake Oliver

Guests: Lisa Gilreath, Valerie Heckman

Topics covered

• empathetic leadership
• team building
• mental health
• work-life balance
• capacity planning
• toxic work culture
• supportive workplace

Keywords

• empathy
• leadership
• accounting
• team dynamics
• stress management
• PTO
• high performers

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Acuity, OnPay, Earmark CPE, Earmark

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