Carole Robin
Carole Robin spent over 20 years teaching the Stanford Graduate School of Business course Interpersonal Dynamics, affectionately known as “Touchy Feely.” After leaving Stanford, she founded a nonprofit called Leaders in Tech, which applies the Touchy Feely principles to help Silicon Valley executives build their leadership and interpersonal skills. Carole co-authored the popular book Connect: Building Exceptional Relationships with Family, Friends, and Colleagues, which shares key insights from her decades of teaching these courses.
Career (separate track) Skills
Using open-ended inquiry rather than "why" questions fosters curiosity and significantly reduces the likelihood of a defensive response.
"Questions that start with what, when, where, how. Stay away from why."
Team & Organization Skills
Effective feedback requires acknowledging that you only have access to your own intent and the other person's behavior, while the actual impact on them must be discovered through dialogue.
"We don't understand that we are only privy to two out of the three, so I know what's going on for me and I know what I did. I have no idea what happened on your end."