Seeing 20/20, Service 0/10

Dear Friends,

Last week, I bought a brand new pair of reading glasses much needed, let me tell you. Three appointments, several weeks, and a fair chunk of cash later, I finally had a pair that looked great and, more importantly, helped me see.

Pick-up day arrived, and… the glasses were wrong. The script I needed wasn’t there. A pretty big mistake for an optometry company. But what really struck me? Zero empathy. No acknowledgment of my frustration, no apology, just a robotic offer to "fix the issue.

Am I the only one noticing this empathy deficit, or do I need a new pair of glasses for that too?

This erosion of empathy isn't just frustrating it’s costly. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) recently took legal action against National Australia Bank (NAB) for failing to respond to customers facing financial hardship, with some waiting over 2,000 days for acknowledgment (read more here).

The impact? Disengaged employees, lost customers, and a decline in trust. Empathy isn’t a "nice to have" it’s a business essential. Here’s how leaders can rebuild it:

Listen to Understand Create space for real conversations. Regular check-ins help uncover challenges before they escalate.

Empathy Education Teach emotional intelligence. Leaders need tools to recognize and address their biases.

Visible Service Leadership Walk the talk. When leaders show empathy, it becomes cultural currency.

Back to my optometry experience… I wonder what was going on for that team member? Was she burnt out? Distracted? Afraid of backlash? Whatever it was, something blocked her ability to access empathy, and because of that, they’ve lost me as a customer.

Empathy isn’t just about "being nice" it directly impacts your bottom line. And when you see it through this lens (pun intended), the picture becomes crystal clear.