Keynote speaker (45–75 minutes), leadership masterclasses, workshops, panelist, podcast host
CEOs, CHROs, leadership teams, HR professionals, global corporations, multi-generational workplaces
The transformative connection between EQ, Leadership and Success and Building team connection.
The importance of positive role-modelling and empowerment for Emerging Leaders and how to create a multiplier role through deeper engagement and more effective connectivity and collaboration.
Engaging with different personalities and their unique mindsets. Different personality types and behaviours. Building on unique traits and approaches to motivation.
Effective ways to communicate in complex & multi stakeholder & client engagements. Negotiation and conflict management.
Beliefs and Conditions for Change, Communication & Negotiation.
Mimi Nicklin is an internationally recognized author, speaker, and CEO of Freedm, a global advertising agency built on empathy-led leadership. Author of Softening the Edge and host of the podcast Empathy for Breakfast, Mimi has become a trusted voice in rehumanizing workplaces and driving sustainable performance through emotional intelligence and inclusion.
With over 15 years of leadership across industries and continents, she brings a unique blend of marketing, psychology, and human-centered design thinking into her work. Featured in Forbes, CNBC, and Thrive Global, Mimi helps organizations harness empathy as a strategic advantage, enabling leaders to improve communication, strengthen engagement, and foster cultures of well-being.
Mimi Nicklin is the bestselling author of Softening the Edge and the Creative CEO of Freedm, her international advertising agency, Mimi has seamlessly blended empathy with leadership, proving that organizations can thrive when they prioritize human connection. With over a decade of experience working across multiple industries and continents, Mimi’s influence reaches far beyond traditional leadership models. She stands as a global influencer, committed to making workplaces not just productive, but deeply connected environments.
As the head of Freedm, Mimi Nicklin practices what she preaches. Her leadership approach, grounded in empathy, has cultivated a company culture that values creativity, collaboration, and inclusivity, reflecting the principles she advocates on global stages. Her unique blend of leadership, creativity, and empathy not only drives her business but also empowers other leaders to follow suit.
What makes Mimi Nicklin an expert in empathy-based leadership is her hands-on experience, academic grounding, and consistent impact on global platforms. Mimi has spent over 15 years studying and applying empathy in business environments, enabling her to develop a deep understanding of how emotional intelligence can drive performance. She is also a trained coach with an extensive background in human-centered design thinking, which allows her to combine creativity with empathy to craft meaningful solutions for businesses.
One of Mimi’s standout experiences has been leading Freedm, where she applies empathy at every level of the business. Her journey with Freedm highlights her ability to shape workplace culture, prioritize well-being, and still drive profit and productivity. By integrating emotional intelligence into her leadership style, Mimi has successfully built teams that are both high-performing and deeply connected.
Mimi Nicklin is a transformative leader who has redefined the way businesses approach leadership through empathy. As a bestselling author, Creative CEO, and international keynote speaker, she brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and passion to every stage she graces. Her ability to connect with audiences, backed by her real-world success in leading diverse teams, makes her a sought-after speaker for events worldwide.
Mimi Nicklin’s 2024 showreel captures her central message: empathy is not optional — it is essential. She emphasizes that all human beings need to be seen, heard, and understood. Beyond thriving individually, our shared success as “pro-social creatures” depends on empathy. She predicts that 2024 will mark the mainstream adoption of listening-led leadership, driven by multi-generational teams demanding deeper connection.
Mimi distinguishes between simply being present and being connected. Leaders must not only hear but also fully understand others, using curiosity to recognize perspectives, motivations, and challenges. This empathy enables people to feel better, perform better, and work better together. She closes with a compelling call to action: empathy is the defining skillset of our times, and there has never been a greater need for it than now.
00:00 — Opening: “As human beings we all need to be seen and heard…”
00:15 — Shared humanity and the need to be understood
00:30 — 2024 as the year of “listening-led leadership”
00:45 — Beyond presence: the importance of connection and curiosity
01:05 — How empathy improves performance and well-being
01:25 — Empathy as the critical leadership skill of our times
01:45 — Closing: “There has never been a time when the world needs more empathy than right now”
In The Secret Behind Multigenerational Leadership Relies on Empathy, Mimi Nicklin explains why empathy—not hierarchy or age-based authority—is the glue that unites multigenerational teams. She asserts that leaders today must shift from commanding to connecting, using curiosity and listening to understand differing values, communication styles, and motivations. Rather than dismissing generational tension as inevitable, she argues that empathy creates psychological safety where voices across age groups feel seen.
Mimi explores how younger and older generations often misunderstand each other’s priorities—one may prioritize flexibility, another structure; one may use digital mediums, another face-to-face. Empathy enables translating between these languages. She also highlights listening practices that go beyond hearing words to capturing intent and emotion. Over time, empathy becomes a competitive differentiator: it helps leaders retain talent, foster innovation, and reduce cultural friction. Mimi concludes by urging leaders to practice empathy daily, as it’s the bridging skillset of our times.
Showcase keynote and Q&A presenting empathy as a hard, trainable leadership skill that drives retention, creativity, and well-being across modern workplaces.
Mimi opens by introducing Empathy Everywhere and her journey from global advertising leadership to author and advocate for organizational empathy. The pandemic accelerated her mission to write, speak, and build a platform around empathy as a critical business capability. She frames a long-running empathy deficit and explains why it matters now: humans need to be seen, heard, and understood to operate at full cognitive capacity.
She distinguishes empathy from intuition and emotion, positioning it as a hard, learnable skill rooted in the prefrontal cortex. Empathy improves communication, collaboration, and decision quality, which in turn drives innovation and performance. Mimi connects empathy to commercial outcomes, arguing that it is a workplace currency and data set for understanding clients, colleagues, and consumers.
She shares trend signals that leaders and recruiters now prioritize empathy, then highlights workforce dynamics such as the great resignation and employees’ willingness to stay longer, work harder, or even trade salary for more empathetic cultures. She describes ROI areas: consumer relevance, creativity, feedback flow, product and digital innovation, motivation, and mental wellness.
Values matter too. When empathy is low, social isms and disconnection rise. Quoting the idea that we see the same world through different eyes, she argues that empathy aligns diverse perspectives so teams can thrive.
In Q&A, she addresses burnout, noting that higher empathy environments correlate with lower burnout, especially in high-pressure fields. She clarifies empathy versus sympathy and reiterates that empathy is a skill set that strengthens with practice. On cultural differences, she observes higher natural empathy in collectivist contexts. On gender, she cites evidence that men and women are born with equal capacity, and points to well-known male leaders who champion empathy. She closes with what is next: a second book focusing on curiosity as the foundation of empathy, a new podcast, global travel, and scaling her Dubai-based agency’s empathy-driven branding work.
01:40 The empathy deficit and why workplaces need it now
02:30 Empathy vs intuition, neuroscience basis, hard skill clarification
03:30 Empathy as workplace currency for communication and relevance
04:30 People and profit balance, empathy as a data set for decisions
05:20 Workforce trends: resignation risk, demand for empathetic cultures
06:15 ROI areas: creativity, innovation, feedback, product and digital ideas
07:30 Motivation, retention, absenteeism, and mental wellness impacts
08:20 Values and societal stakes, the cost of low empathy
09:05 “Same world, different eyes” insight and practical leadership implications
09:50 Practical definition leaders can use in meetings and negotiations
10:30 Q&A: empathy and burnout, inverse relationship explained
11:10 Q&A: empathy is not a soft skill, empathy vs sympathy
11:50 Q&A: culture and collectivism, effects on practiced empathy
12:30 Q&A: gender and empathy capacity, examples of empathetic leaders
13:00 What is next: second book on curiosity, podcast, global travels, agency work
Empathy-led leadership, listening, multi-generational engagement, well-being at work, inclusion.
Yes, sessions are tailored to corporate goals and challenges.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates or Sri Lanka
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