Faced with rejection in a high-pressure interview for not being "tough enough," Steve Garrity shared his cancer survival story. This unexpected move completely reframed the interviewer's perception of his resilience and grit, ultimately securing him the job. It demonstrates how strategic vulnerability can be a powerful tool to counter professional challenges.

For leaders who are natural empaths, a key growth area is learning to separate deep personal care for team members from the objective needs of the business. This includes recognizing that letting someone go can be the most loving and correct decision for the individual, the team, and the company.

To motivate and retain employees, especially in a challenging market, leaders must shift their perspective from 'they work for me' to 'I work for them.' This servant-leadership approach involves genuinely caring about your team's well-being and success, which fosters loyalty and improves performance.

Facing a life-threatening illness can paradoxically improve performance. After his cancer diagnosis, the speaker's goals narrowed from "shooting for the moon" to a methodical, daily focus on incremental improvement. This post-traumatic growth eliminated distractions and fostered a consistency that led to elite success in both his running and professional careers.

During his cancer treatment, Steve Garrity learned that the most meaningful support came from friends who were simply present, even without conversation. One friend drove him to chemo during a fight, demonstrating that showing up is more powerful than finding the perfect words. This is a crucial lesson for leaders and colleagues supporting someone through hardship.

By waiting 37 years to write his book, Steve Garrity was able to add a critical second part: how his cancer experience shaped four decades of his life and career. This long-term perspective provided profound insights on leadership, fatherhood, and friendship that would have been impossible to capture if he had written it sooner.

Empathy, defined as merely feeling another's pain, is overrated and can lead to inaction. Effective leadership requires compassion: understanding a problem, feeling a connection, identifying a solution, and having the courage to implement it, even when it's difficult or unpopular.

Leaders often try to project an image of perfection, but genuine connection and trust are built on authenticity and vulnerability. Sharing your "brokenness"—insecurities or past struggles—is more powerful than listing accolades, as it creates psychological safety and allows others to connect with you on a human level.

Leading with empathy is emotionally draining, but it's not compassion that causes fatigue—it's the distress of witnessing suffering without being able to help. For leaders, the ability to take meaningful action during crises makes the emotional cost a worthwhile price to pay.