How To Be Empathetic During Moments of Truth with Penny Hurlstone

Change Doesn't Have To Suck: Season 3 ✈ 🇳🇿 Recorded Live from Brightstar's Change and Transformation Summit in Wellington, Jasmine and Alistair sit down with Penny Hurlstone from Stellar Consulting to talk about empathy in the moments that matter most. Penny breaks down the "moments of truth," when people first hear about a change, start a new role, or ask "what's in it for me," and how empathy in those exact moments builds trust that lasts. She reframes change fatigue as a symptom of poorly managed change rather than an inevitable cost, and shares her "name it to tame it" technique for catching an amygdala hijack before it derails a hard conversation. They touch on what empathetic leadership actually looks like at scale, from role modelling behaviour when no one's watching to the power of a well-told, genuinely vulnerable story over another five-point strategy slide. Penny's own metaphor, that great leaders farm their culture rather than build it in a single road show, ties it all together. Tune in to discover why psychological safety, self-awareness and a bit of storytelling might do more for your next change than any comms plan, and Penny's own answer to why change doesn't have to suck, but usually does: because people don't listen to each other. Chapters: [00:00] - Welcome & Live Intro from Wellington [00:45] - Meet Penny Hurlstone & Today's Topic: Empathy in Moments of Truth [02:11] - What Are "Moments of Truth" in Change? [07:36] - Reframing Change Fatigue as a Planning Problem [08:45] - Psychological Safety & The "Peach" (Nod to Stefan Bramble) [11:24] - Role Modelling Empathy at Scale: The Farmer Analogy [14:41] - The Amygdala Hijack & "Name It To Tame It" [18:57] - Being a Vulnerable Leader, Not Just an Empathetic One [20:18] - Storytelling as the Vehicle for Vulnerability [23:44] - Wrapping Up & Final Thoughts ──────────────────────── 🧠 ──────────────────────── New episodes drop every week, follow the show on Spotify so you never miss one: https://sptfy.com/QoPV ──────────────────────── ⭐ ──────────────────────── Connect with The Outlier Group: Website: theoutliergroup.com.au Follow on LinkedIn: /theoutliergroupaustralia