One-on-One with Erin Thorp: From 4-H Teamwork to Empathetic Leadership

4-H alum, Erin Thorp, is passionate about how the leadership skills built in 4-H can transform lives.

The idea of empathetic leadership is to bring out the best in others while understanding and respecting someone’s own personal needs or differences. It’s about being open to learning. 4-H alum, Erin Thorp, is a speaker, coach for leaders, and author of the book, Inside Out Empathy, who spoke to 4-H Canada about this approach, and shared insights into the qualities someone in 4-H can learn and share, whether they’re a member or a leader.

4-H Canada: Hi Erin! What was it like growing up in 4-H in Northern Alberta?

Erin: As a child, I lived in Alaska for a few years, then moved back to the family farm in Northern Alberta when I was about 10. That’s when I got involved with the Pembina West 4-H Beef Club until I was 17. I held various positions in my 4-H club, from social coordinator to president. The skill I learned that has served me the best was collaboration. This is the foundation of teamwork. I wasn’t a kid who was involved in organized sports, so 4-H gave me the opportunity to learn how to navigate team dynamics, which served me well in university, and in my career as an engineer. Now, I develop effective teams for a living! I have a tendency to step up when no one else is willing to; I have no fear about taking on a leadership role. Oftentimes, people fear being the one in charge, and 4-H played a big part in reducing that fear for me. Participating in 4-H also brought balance to my skillset; I learned to lead with less command and control, and leverage collaboration, diversity, and sharing of ideas.

4-H Canada: Your work and your book, Inside Out Empathy, focuses on “empathetic leadership.” Did you get this idea of empathic leadership from 4-H?

Erin: Looking back, I can see that my experience in 4-H was the foundation. At the time though, I didn’t know what leading with empathy was. There were leaders, mentors, and older club members who practiced empathy, but I didn’t know that was what they were doing. Around the 10-year mark in my career, in the male-dominated industries of construction and engineering, I started to feel like I didn’t have a place, as a woman, and as a young mother. The environment didn’t feel inclusive or supportive and I found myself wondering what to do. I started thinking back to my experience growing up and my involvement in 4-H. On the family farm, my siblings and I worked alongside my mom and dad, doing everything. There was no separation, no defined gender roles, it was just work – in the house and in the fields. The environment in 4-H was much the same, where everyone pulls together, be it for a judging event, public speaking event, practice, or Achievement Day. Leading with empathy is critical to creating inclusive environments. There has been a lot of talk in recent years about diversity and inclusion. While I think diversity is easier to measure, visible equity and inclusion are more feeling-based and require us to understand

each other’s life and cultural experiences. It’s small things that matter to people; it’s not as big a task, we just need to be aware, be present, and pay attention.

4-H Canada: Do you talk about empathic leadership with your children today?

Erin: Absolutely. My children are my first audience when I put together a speech or a workshop! They’re very curious about what I do. They have all been involved in organized sports and clubs, so we talk about empathy for other participants and players, officials, coaches, leaders - even rowdy parents. As they grow up the situations they face are growing in complexity, which makes practicing empathy even more important.

4-H Canada: In what way do you think 4-H’ers stand out in the crowd? How does 4-H prepare us for later in life?

Erin: In my experience, you come out of 4-H with this incredible foundation of skills that you don’t even know you have! I am not scared of public speaking because of the skills and practice I got from 4-H. This is not the case for most people. I work with a lot of people who are still very intimated and afraid to speak in public – even if it’s just in front of four or five people. I knew how to run a meeting, pull together an event, do chores, and be responsible for someone other than myself. You don’t realize as a kid how important that is. These are all incredibly important skills for all the situations we face later in life, from post-secondary education to the workforce. The skills we learn as 4-H’ers serve the entrepreneur, the tradesman, and the professional. We don’t talk enough about 4-H, how it shapes us into individuals, and well-rounded people. I certainly didn’t give 4-H enough credit in terms of the skills it gave me.

4-H Canada: Have you ever managed or coached 4-H’ers or alumni?

Erin: Yes, I’ve had 4-H alumni on my teams before. It’s like they all have this “intangible quality”. You don’t recognize what it is immediately; it’s almost like an unspoken language or approach - a similarity in style. Then when you find out they were 4-H’ers, you’re like, ‘Oh that’s why it works so well,’ because we have similar foundation skills and aligned values.

4-H Canada: What role do you think 4-H alumni have to play in today’s world?

Erin: We have to be willing to share our story, give back, and make sure today’s youth have the opportunities to learn the things we did. Openly sharing our stories and experience is how other people learn about the incredible work 4-H does, and the opportunities available to our youth. I grew up with the preconceived idea that 4-H was only available to farm kids. Now I know that’s not the case.

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