The Power of Empathy in Transformation
How Emotional Growth Fuels Personal and Professional Success
Every transformation we encounter requires overcoming an emotional challenge. Inspired by this hypothesis, I explore the connection between empathetic leadership, resilience, and growth.
I’ve achieved much of the transformation I seek
The other day, I arose from meditation with a deep awareness: I’ve already achieved much of the transformation I was seeking. This realization came with a mix of shame, joy, and pride. I had been so focused on how others perceived me that I hadn’t fully recognized the person I had become.
Over the last four years, I’ve made intentional shifts in my life, but the milestones were lost in the extended timeline it took to achieve them.
Step by step, I broke off pieces of self-growth. I healed my heart enough to focus on my purpose. I found love, started a family, and turned original ideas into commercially viable products.
I’ve convinced multinational organizations to invest in my vision, given jobs to dozens, and inspired countless others to join the empathy journey.
I didn’t keep the growth to myself
Along the way, I didn’t keep the growth to myself. I’ve documented the processes that strengthened my emotional awareness and resilience. I rattle off these milestones, but each required confronting fear, anger, sadness, or shame, and choosing to keep moving forward.
My journey into empathy education began with a trust-building experiment that led to the creation the Actually Curious conversation game. This experience revealed how difficult it is for people to be honest and vulnerable with one another — even for me.
I’d freeze up in discussion forums, debilitated by anxiety. Over time, through hundreds of intentional conversations, I saw how these emotional challenges consistently arose.
A pivotal moment came during a business disagreement with a meditation master. He remained calm while I fought to keep my emotions in check. I realized I needed to improve how I used empathy to regulate my reactions during conflict.
Empathy saved me
Empathy also saved me after the loss of two brothers in 2019. I hadn’t anticipated losing them so soon. It forced me to confront who I was without their love and affirmation. Grief led to greater self-belief, and I discovered that if I could survive that pain, I could handle almost anything.
Through loss, I learned to see and understand my loved ones more deeply.
Loss brought closeness in some cases, distance in others. Navigating these relationships has been my most significant emotional challenge, far more complex than any entrepreneurial or community goal.
Be the transformation
Five years ago, I only wanted the pain to stop. The pandemic brought stillness, allowing me to define my transformation. Now, I realize I am the writer, the creator, the father, the husband, the entrepreneur, and the renaissance man I dreamed of becoming.
I no longer need to worry about how others see me. I only need to model the power of empathy by being unapologetically myself.
Change is inevitable. Many of you are there now or soon will be. Be the transformation — with the help of empathy.
Check out my recent feature in Oprah Daily “Wait, There Are 3 Kinds of Empathy?”
About Michael Tennant
Michael Tennant, CEO of Curiosity Lab is an entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and author of The Power of Empathy available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Target, and described by Inc. Magazine’s 100 NonObvious Business Books as “A Thirty-Day Path to Personal Growth and Social Change effectively balancing a self-help approach with a practical explanation of how we can use empathy as a tool.” He’s also the creator of Actually Curious™ the empathy conversation game, Values Exercise™, and the Five Phases of Empathy™. In 2022, Curiosity Lab received an investment from Pharrell and the Black Ambition Prize.
