Could empathy make a difference in your organization?

I rarely mention empathy in my consulting work in organizations, mostly because it’s perceived in the business world as unpractical, time consuming and even as a sign of weakness.

Since Marie Miyashiro, an OD consultant and friend, decided to come out of the « empathy closet » with her book The Empathy Factor – Your Competitive Advantage for Personal, Team, and Business Success I want to be more explicit about the importance of empathy with clients who want to create a climate of trust and collaboration in their organizations.

I love how she answers the question « What does empathy have to do with workplaces and business? – Much of the research on business success in the last decade focuses on how to harness the human element. For example, creating more productivity and collaboration with colleagues as well as how to really understand the customer at the deepest level. Empathy is a factor that up until recently, has not received as much attention as many other business topics.

As we’re coming to understand now, it has potential for unleashing tremendous energy for business success because empathic connection is at the heart of productive and meaningful relationships. Since our entire global economy is shifting to one of complex interdependent relationships, this will continue to increase the value of the empathy factor in the years to come. Even now, empathy training is becoming one of the standard skills being developed in corporate cultures. » – Q&A for PuddleDancer Press

Jean-Philippe