Empathy & Why It Matters

Empathy & Why It Matters

Is there anything more beautifully collaborative in music than "call and response"? The connection bred among musicians and listeners palpably infuses the room with exuberance. If you've ever felt it, you understand the powerful connectivity I'm talking about. Why? Empathy matters. More than ever, the adage "don't judge someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes" is relevant. Empathy isn't a moral high ground. It's a skill that requires practice. It's listening with all senses and responding, whether actively or silently, in word or in gesture.

Empathy is the bedrock of communication. Life can be majestic. Life is tough. Life has a way of throwing curve balls at the worst possible times. The world is a multi-layered cataclysmic force of good and evil wrapped into a big, fat, colorful ball of yarn that we must unravel and detangle. It's up to us to create something beautiful with the threads of yarn we have to work with. For each person who has a perch from which to interpret the saddest and most maddening things happening, including the morass of dismal economic headlines, political gamesmanship on our tax dollars, culture wars and wars of flesh and blood, personal tragedy, illnesses, and so much more, there are others whose lives and souls are directly impacted with their very survival, whether it be emotional or physical or both, at stake.

How a person chooses to cope has everything to do with how they can cope and what tools they do or don't possess. What are their internal resources? What support system do they have, if any? There are physical and mental health challenges as well as financial hardships plaguing people you know, of which you likely know nothing. Seeking to understand and show compassion over anger or judgement is the most evolved response in our repertoire and has the power to change everything.

We each have the power to be a force of good, despite the instinctive anger dwelling within us. My life goal, above, beyond, and outside of business, is to leave people better off than when we started the journey, no matter how short or long, we're on together. Heaven knows, we and our fellow humans in this community we call earth need each other. The beauty of engaging in the cycle of listening, compassion, and responsiveness is that it's the most gratifying, powerful practice. It's for the giver and the one being given to, and it happens to make the world a better place. Some may perceive that this line of thinking is for suckers, especially in business, but I disagree. At the end of the day, the energy you put into the world, good, bad or indifferent, comes back in spades.