10 Minutes With: Deborah Crowe
Leadership coach Deborah Crowe chats about the value of empathy, handling the uncomfortable conversation and why an obsession with metrics might kill your company
DEBORAH CROWE IS a life and leadership coach who recently published her first book, The Heart-Centred Leadership Playbook.
Born in London, she lived in various Southwestern Ontario communities before moving back to the Forest City for good in 1980. She attended Montcalm Secondary School, living with her grandmother much of the time because her father was ill. He died when she was 21. Her consulting business is named Davwill, in recognition of his name, David William.
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She and husband John have two daughters and a granddaughter. Laura is student council president at King’s University College. Christine lives in B.C. and has a daughter, Eleanor.
Crowe has volunteered for most of her life, most recently with St. Joseph’s Hospice. She became a yoga instructor six years ago and teaches in and around London. “I love being outside, walking, hiking, biking or going for a country drive,” she says, also describing herself as a foodie. “I love to cook.”
Last year, she and John celebrated their 30th anniversary with a trip to Los Cabos, Mexico.
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Congratulations on your new book. What prompted you to write it?
The idea had been sitting in my heart for 30 years. I felt it was the right time to put my thought leadership out into the world.
Is your commitment to heart-centred leadership a reaction to more traditional, possibly divisive, practices you’ve witnessed?
My commitment is my own passion for leadership as a whole. I wrote this book because of what I have witnessed and experienced. I have always thought and acted from a place of kindness and have felt everything from embraced to used to abused as a result. I can still remember the first woman leader I encountered who reacted negatively to my positive approach. I now realize her unkindness was about her own life, being mid-50s, overweight, unhappy and divorced. It was not about me. I wanted to share real-life experiences and share the full-circle moments to be relatable to the reader.
How is your approach different?
My approach is different, as people come before profit. When we honour our connection with people and truly lead them before the metrics, KPIs, profit, etcetera, success will organically be achieved. Heart-centered leaders lead and foster individuals to lead and be better leaders.
Are there situations where an empathetic strategy is not the best?
After 33 years in business, I will wholeheartedly share that being empathetic and a great communicator always works in any situation. When people feel seen, heard, valued and validated, it’s always a great outcome.
Is there ever a place for confrontational leadership?
Confrontational leadership is the ability to be assertive, yet with heart-centered leadership qualities. It’s a skill to have hard conversations yet convey the message in a kind way. The confrontation or uncomfortable conversation can easily be shifted with heart-centered strategies.
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Can you show clients a financial benefit to changing approaches?
Absolutely. In today’s business climate, the financial benefit is now employee retention. It’s no longer a specific fiduciary element. It’s people. The value is in the people.
What effect has your heart-centred approach had on your own life?
I was taught to be heart-centered at a young age by my Irish nana. From age nine until my teen years, I spent every weekend with her. Nana would pick me up and take me to her house, and I loved it. When I got home Sunday night, I’d count five more nights until I was back at Nana’s.
She taught me simple yet necessary core values; she called it common sense. If we treat people the way we want to be treated, we will never go wrong. I have never wavered from this core belief while carving my own path, confident in who I am. I know that being kind will never go out of style. 
Interview by Christopher Clark