Why empathy matters

This is one of the last photos of Billy the dog on the beach. A while back I was walking along the beach with my camera and took some photos of this old Labrador having a whale of a time with his stick. I got talking to the owners and was very sad to hear that this old boy was enjoying his last days. His time was soon up and they wanted him to enjoy some time doing what he loved most - beach walks with his stick. When I offered to share the photos I had taken they were very touched. Why did I do this? I had empathy for what they were going through.

So what is empathy? It is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another being. Whilst it is a trait linked to being a human not all humans have this capability. On a side note - empathy is not restricted to humans, as supported not just by many pet owners but also by research.

So why does empathy matter?

Collaboration

Empathy is a very important evolutionary trait. It helps animals survive and thrive in social groups. Part of this is because it fosters collaboration and support (group or individual). If you empathise with someone you are more likely to try to help them.

In the business world collaboration can be a very important activity. Empathy helps build trust, rapport, and a positive work culture. It can also help create a sense of unity among team members. It can also help people navigate challenging situations with compassion and understanding. Empathy can help teams find common ground and mutually beneficial solutions. Empathy can help generate those "out of the box" ideas and provide the spark to innovation.

Communication

Empathy is crucial for impactful communication. If you do not understand your target audience then how can you communicate with them effectively? Consider the last time you saw some communication that you would call "tone deaf". The chances are whoever was responsible was not empathetic to the audience or cause. They did not truly empathise - and subsequently did not understand why the communication would cause offence.

Empathy not only helps avoid this but also helps in the fine tuning of communications. This is why when you are developing patient communications, for example, it is so important to include actual patients. As an autoimmune patient I have seen some awful communication around autoimmune symptoms - simply because the party involved had no real understanding of the symptoms.

Memory

Empathy is often termed around imagination - and the ability to imagine yourself in someone else's shoes. However merely imagining someone else’s situation does not constitute empathy. Imagination can be a cold affair, not unlike understanding how airplanes fly. Empathy requires emotional involvement. It is this emotional component then also impacts memory.

One reason business storytelling is so impactful is because, if done well, it generates an emotional response. People tend to recall emotional events more often and with more clarity and detail than neutral events. Emotions also drive actions. Bringing in empathy helps make the emotional connection which helps people remember. This is why picking the right hero for your story is so important. It is the hero that can help drive empathy and trigger that connection with your audience.

AI

Finally empathy is important because this is a very human trait that machines cannot replicate. The emotional component as mentioned is something that only a living being can feel. As our lives become ever more closely supported and linked to AI technology we should not forget that it is just a tool. A tool that cannot replace humans - or human empathy. If you rely solely on AI to generate your content, for example, you are more likely to end up with that "tone deaf" content. If you were to only collaborate with an AI tool you would miss out on the ideas that empathy can help generate. A while back I wrote about the 5 C capabilities for an AI enabled world - one C was compassion, aka empathy.

Of course we all know people who are clearly lacking in empathy. Whilst there are some jobs where a lack of empathy is not as critical, for many roles it is vital. It may be underappreciated - but take it away and it would soon be missed. Leaders without empathy do not lead as well and do not have the full trust and support of their teams - not like an empathetic leader would. Unempathetic leaders need to use other tools to support their leadership - such as high remuneration or fear. Again we all know these - but given half the chance we would rather not work for them.

The reality is human kind without empathy would not last long. We would end up killing each other and the planet too - after all if you do not care about anyone else why bother ensuring that future generations have a planet to live on?

Empathy is a gift - appreciate it and value it. And if you have a pet - go home and give them a big hug because their lives are fleeting but incredibly precious.