My Force of Growth: Why Empathy is the future of Everything

Clients don’t buy if they don’t feel. Employees don’t perform if they don’t trust. Partners don’t sign if they don’t believe.

The topic of empathy can never grow old or loose importance. Actually, empathy is the keyword of this whole article.

Before I dive into the needy greedy, I have to thank the families, friends and all mentors who are enhancing in others this force of feeling. I don’t know what we would be without it. Now, I am sharing this big learning with you, hoping that you will care enough to pause and understand.

“If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from [their] point of view until you climb inside of [their] skin and walk around in it.” — Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Empathy, or the ability to identify with others by putting yourself in their shoes, is key to both personal and business growth. Yes, indeed business is about growing your revenue and seeing those numbers increase by the day; but how will your company strive if you put your audience second and your business first?

Any strategist thinking long-term, will tell you… it might work in the short run, but even the most technical, industrial or rigid industries still have clients they need to care for, partners to talk to or contracts to close.

Here’s my take on it: Clients don’t buy if they don’t feel. Employees don’t perform if they don’t trust. Partners don’t sign if they don’t believe.

And these are interchangeable because feeling, trust and belief are what we all need to move forward with any decision.

Some background…

In his book ‘A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future’, Daniel H. Pink states that empathy is one of the 6 essential human abilities, crucial for success today and the future. In this provocative piece, he argues that we will shift from a logic-based information era to a conceptual one, and so, the future belongs to creative storytellers.

Since we all need to create with the customer at heart, I completely see why the future of business and growth is built on empathy.

Let’s measure it: Where do you stand on the empathy scale?

Plenty of research shows how empathy enhances well-being, brings happiness but also boosts sales by promoting reliability, showing authenticity and real interest which results in brand affinity. While it is true that some people are naturally more empathic than others, and can therefore easily understand the audience and create for it, the good news is that empathy can be learned (if you want to!). To be explained in a future piece.

In the article “What makes a leader?”, the psychologist and author Daniel Goleman states that “leaders with empathy do more than sympathize with people around them: they use their knowledge to improve their companies in subtle, but important ways”.

And he is so right… . Back when I researched the depths of client management, the main drivers of success between subjects were always empathy and emotional intelligence. Additionally, in practice, I saw business people who lacked empathy and were unwilling to listen and understand why it is important for their companies to cultivate this aspect. As business professionals, they were very good (at being logical, financially-oriented, critical and cut-thru) and their short term goals were often successful. But in the medium-term, they struggled because logic can only get you so far. Their ‘fan-base’ was reduced by the day, the business was changing and profits were shaking.

So why is empathy so good for you and your business?

“Measure your impact in humanity, not in the likes, but the lives you touch; not in popularity, but in the people you serve. […] Stay focused on what really matters. There will be times when your resolve to serve humanity will be tested. Be prepared. People will try to convince you that you should keep your empathy out of your career. Don’t accept this false premise.” — Tim Cook, Apple, CEO

In the long-run, business success is strongly related to empathy. It’s all about people!

Empathy will help you to:

• Deeply understand your client(s): Listen carefully to what people are saying, understand their emotions, struggles, hopes and dreams and all your communication will be a success.
• Create brand loyalty: Don’t sell for the sake of making money, your audience will feel it! Clients and partners will come back because they relate to your communication and will use or affiliate to your product because they feel your message, not because you had a sexy pitch for it.
• Create meaningful experiences: What do people feel when they interact with your brand? By understanding your clients you are creating experiences that match their feelings. In the office, in-store, online and in every point of connection, the experience will be real and relatable, this is what matters.
• Increase referrals: If people relate to you, they will bring the people who they care about to share the experience. You don’t want to be a one-hit-wonder.
• Enhance your Design Thinking: Create products and customer journeys that spawn from understanding the world in which your products live.
• Unlock Creativity: Listen to your audience. They have so much to give if they feel heard. The client is the sea of ideas you want to swim in. Get an idea board and encourage everyone to participate!
• Have a competitive edge: Infuse empathy in your product’s communication and your overall growth will sky-rocket. Start pinpointing the activities that feel standardized, meaningless and empty. Then, change them!
• Boost innovation: Bring in the company people who are empathic, who will speak up and bring to the table ideas. Bring in the generalists to the teams, people who love your product already, who have soft skills, curiosity and creative thinking.

In the end, those who lead and create with empathy will triumph.

Learn from this and pass it on. To your families, friends, employees, colleagues, clients. It’ s free of charge and it can change everything!