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Heather Adams is director of marketing at the Arbinger Institute, a training and consulting firm that helps individuals, teams, and organizations move from the default self-focus of an inward mindset to the others-inclusive focus of an outward mindset. With programs and methodology based on 45 years of research in the psychology of human behavior and more than 35 years of practical experience working with organizations worldwide, Arbinger enables organizations and their people to achieve results that are only possible with an outward mindset.

Heather Adams

Heather Adams is director of marketing at the Arbinger Institute, a training and consulting firm that helps individuals, teams, and organizations move from the default self-focus of an inward mindset to the results-focus of an outward mindset. With programs and methodology based on 45 years of research in the psychology of human behavior and more than 35 years of practical experience working with organizations worldwide, Arbinger enables organizations and their people to achieve results that are only possible with an outward mindset. Heather brings to Arbinger an abiding passion for personal and organizational transformation. Trained in international peacebuilding and cross-cultural communication, Heather has years of experience working with the federal government and the private sector to enhance organizational performance by shifting the mindsets that underlie behaviors. Prior to joining Arbinger, Heather was an engagement manager, consultant, and facilitator with a boutique consulting firm that helped organizations transform their cultures in support of business objectives. She also worked for the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where she partnered with senior executives to improve strategic alignment, processes and operations. In prior lives, Heather was a peace and security researcher in Hamburg, Germany, an English teacher in China and, for one summer, a wrangler on a dude ranch in Colorado. She holds a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in history from Princeton University. She and her husband Matt live in the Salt Lake City metro area with their dog, Langley.  Learn more about the Arbinger Institute: www.arbinger.com

Heather Gilmartin Adams

3 Tips to Increase Learning Engagement

Government agencies need to shift from an inward mindset to an outward mindset to future-proof their workforce.

Future-Proofing Your Agency

Prioritizing everyday acts of kindness in education is critical to support individual well-being, societal impact, and organizational success, and we are all a critical piece of the solution. George Mason University launched the Mason Chooses Kindness initiative in 2020 to inspire its community to engage in intentional kindness by doing caring and generous deeds every day. They are now working tirelessly to encourage others outside our community to do the same. Why? Kindness is always the right thing to do for society, especially in a world that has been termed “on fire,” and research links kindness-centered cultures to positive business outcomes for society, indicating that fostering inclusive, kindness-based cultures is an essential leadership skill. At the Costello College of Business at George Mason University (Costello), they passionately believe leaders educated in environments where kindness reigns are more likely to carry that value into the workplace and navigate a complex and diverse world in ways that benefit society at large. An extensive (and growing) body of research has revealed direct correlations between kindness-centered corporate cultures and positive business outcomes. For example, Mandy O’Neill, professor of management at Costello and senior scientist at George Mason’s Center for the Advancement of Well-Being, has conducted research on this topic. She and her colleagues have found that organizations with cultures of “companionate love” (affectionate bonding between co-workers) can weather higher levels of collective anxiety without incurring increased operational costs or experiencing greater employee burnout, which can have a societal ripple effect. Education can and should happen everywhere — thank you ATD for accentuating this point— therefore our ask for each of you is to intentionally embed kindness into your daily interactions personally and professionally. We challenge you to think when you see less-than-kind behavior, to stop and ask yourself “If not ME, then who?” and act to lead with kindness to affect those around you. The following is excerpted from George Mason University’s 30 Days of Kindness Calendar.An Individual Roadmap to Kindness:Give someone a genuine compliment.Take a break to prevent burnout.Ask someone what they enjoy doing (and consider doing it with them).Practice active listening.Give thanks before a meal.An Organizational Roadmap to Kindness:Identify kindness champions.Align with strategy.Secure commitment from leadership.Foster true engagement.Measure progress. For more details, refer to our article in AACSB Insights. The ripple effect of doing so is proven. And as Adam Grant so nicely stated in his book Think Again, “When we think about how to plan our lives, there are few things that take priority over happiness…it’s one of the three unalienable rights in our Declaration of Independence.” Yet how many of us intentionally create steps to make this happen in our personal and professional lives? If not you, then who? Be the change. 

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