Empathy, when practiced with intention, still delivers results. It leads to better products, stronger teams, deeper loyalty, and faster adaptation. It makes companies more resilient because it keeps them in touch with reality. It helps them stay relevant because they sense change sooner than others. But maybe more importantly, it keeps them decent. And in this moment, decency is a competitive advantage.
Empathy, when practiced with intention, still delivers results. It leads to better products, stronger teams, deeper loyalty, and faster adaptation. It makes companies more resilient because it keeps them in touch with reality. It helps them stay relevant because they sense change sooner than others. But maybe more importantly, it keeps them decent. And in this moment, decency is a competitive advantage.
Though Musk is wrong almost 100 percent of the time, he is right about one thing: empathy can be taken advantage of, and used a weapon. However, he underestimates its strength and ability to create permanent and positive change.
In a cultural landscape often confusing emotional sensitivity with fragility, a growing body of research suggests empathy is not only a powerful social tool – but one of the strongest human traits. Recent studies from psychology, neuroscience and leadership development reveal empathy – when understood and practiced with intention – fuels resilience, effective leadership and healthier relationships with those around us.
The school was using resources from EmpathyLab, a U.K. organization that aims “to raise an empathy-educated generation” through the power of reading. Independent research has shown that this is one of the best ways to understand other people’s perspectives.
Stories allow us to “walk around” the character, and to consider their viewpoint in a safe way, says Imogen Bond, managing director at EmpathyLab: “We might think of reading as something that you do in isolation … actually, it’s something that really connects us to other people.”
EmpathyLab is just one of a number of initiatives built on the premise that empathy is not so much a trait one is born with, but rather a muscle that can be trained. Many educators and experts see such training as vital — for individuals and for wider society.
Hunt wants to make sure it’s those “Walking Dead” who are remembered, and it was a key part of his talk during a recent Veteran Empathy Training session at the Milwaukee VA.
Started five years ago, the program involves Veterans meeting face-to-face with third-year medical students so they can learn, firsthand, about the Veteran experience.
“It gives them an eye-opening experience to the Veteran culture,” said Veteran Chris Swift, who has been with the program since the beginning. “A lot of medical students don’t have any experience with Veterans, but they likely are going to cross paths at some time with Veterans.”
The goal is to get them attuned to the unique needs of Veterans, which, in turn, will make them better doctors, said Milwaukee VA psychologist Zeno Franco.
“It’s about trying to get the students to better understand Vetera
Love and emphathy are always good. Love and empathy shouldn't be blamed for a poor outcome. We have never needed love and empathy more than we do today.
A recent claim that empathy is evil garnered a lot of public attention. Empathy, so the assertion goes, is the devil in disguise, luring people into foolish actions and sentiments. Some described empathy as “suicidal” or as the “fundamental weakness of Western societies”. Empathy is to blame for “wasteful” social programs and “lax” immigration policies. Most did not discriminate against any empathy but specifically disparaged “untethered” empathy.
Denver, Colorado, June 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Businessolver®, a leader in benefits and HR technology solutions, released findings from its 10th annual State of Workplace Empathy study which has surveyed more than 26,000 CEOs, HR professionals, and employees over the past decade. This year’s findings highlight 5- and 10-year trends alongside the tangible ROI of empathy in today’s workplace, including an estimated $180 billion at risk annually due to attrition at organizations perceived as unempathetic.
“Empathy isn’t just good for people—it’s good for business,” said Jon Shanahan, President and CEO at Businessolver. “Collectively, companies te and missing out on a high-ROI lever for long-term growth.” hat fail to operationalize empathy are leaving $180 billion on the tabl
Research from Wharton professor Rebecca (Becky) Schaumberg and PhD student Zhiying (Bella) Ren reveals how disagreement in a conversation is often mistaken for bad listening, regardless of how engaged the listener is. Schaumberg explains their findings.
Empathy is popularly defined as "the ability to understand and share the feelings of another." Research indicates that it is a vital force in creating better relationships and having a positive impact on our well-being and society. However, when viewed from an ecological perspective, empathy becomes much broader. It can provide a more in-depth understanding of our interdependency with others and the resources with which we coexist.
There is no doubt that empathy can have a transformational impact on our world. Helen Riess, author of The Empathy Effect, stresses that in this era "the ability to connect empathically with others—to feel with them, to care about their well-being, and to act with compassion—is critical to our lives, helping us to get along, work more effectively, and thrive as a society."
What Is Empathy, Anyway? Empathy is a broad term that can mean a lot of different things in different contexts. “The empathy we often think about is sharing in another person's feelings,” Daryl Cameron, PhD, says. “So if I see someone, or read about someone who's sad, I catch that sadness myself, and I'm in the same emotional place.”
Cameron is an associate professor of psychology at Pennsylvania State University whose research explores the psychology behind empathy and how it guides our decisions. H
Three years ago, I moved from London to Australia to work with Small Giants Academy on a program called the Mastery of Business and Empathy. It was a leap, personally and professionally. The program was drawing in leaders from all walks of life: activists to entrepreneurs, global executives and policymakers. Lorna Davis, former Chair and CEO of Danone North America, and Dane O’Shanassy of Patagonia were among the many speakers on the program who model what it looks like to lead with conviction, care, and courage.
Having graduated my MBA at Oxford University’s Säid Business School, I knew this program was what the leaders of our world needed. An alternative to traditional business education that prepares curious leaders for the ‘next economy’.
by LOPA SHAH 5 min read Stepping into a new community, especially in a region shaped by political and social complexities, is never just about the work—it’s about relationships. Trust isn’t built overnight, and it certainly isn’t granted just because individuals and institutions in civil society arrive with good intentions. Trust is earned through presence, persistence, and an openness to learning. I have been working with school leaders, teachers, and students in Kashmir for eight years. During this time, I’ve learned that building trust requires many skills—such as being humble about not knowing people’s lived realities, staying curious, showing deep empathy, understanding the region’s political history, and being open to unlearning as much as learning. At ELICIT, the organisation I founded, we work with teachers in conflict-affected regions to rebuild schools as spaces of healing. But this effort begins with asking ourselves the hardest question of all: What does it take to hold space without controlling it?
Lead With Empathy And Build Psychological Safety When leaders lead with empathy, individuals—whether direct reports or peers—feel heard, seen and valued. This creates a climate of psychological safety, where trust and openness flourish. In such environments, team members are more likely to speak up, share ideas and admit mistakes without fear of blame. That openness drives collaboration, creativity and resilience—especially critical in high-pressure or fast-moving settings.
Empathy also helps buffer against today’s constant stressors. In a world shaped by geopolitical upheaval, social division and AI disruption, leaders are not navigating occasional challenges; they are steering through a state of continuous crisis.
Theologian Joe Rigney received a torrent of bad press after claiming in his recent book, “The Sin of Empathy,” that “The so-called virtue of empathy is the greatest rhetorical tool of manipulation in the 21st century.”
“Because love is a real virtue, empathy's power is in posing as selfless care for victims,” Rigney continues.
Political commentator Allie Beth Stuckey echoed this idea in her 2024 book, “Toxic Empathy,” explaining how the left frames their cause as the only compassionate or kind position one could have, essentially emotionally bullying Americans, especially Christians.
he definition of empathy is: “the ability to understand and share the feelings of others.”
Except, of course, when it comes to politics.
Recently, Elon Musk, tech titan and the richest person in the world, said, “the fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy”.
Additioanlly, some leaders of the Christian Right have been evangelizing that empathy is a sin.
Have we lost our way when it comes to understanding that there may be a place for empathy in our current political environment and that the failure to understand that basic concept just might be making things worse?
A recent clinical trial from the founders of Beheld and a research team at the Dell Medical School has demonstrated that science-backed human connection can drive clinically relevant health improvements for health plan members. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, found that consistent, empathy-focused phone calls led to significant improvement in mental health and blood sugar control for adults with diabetes. This research highlights a cost-effective model for managing various conditions, especially for individuals with limited access to traditional mental health and support services.
Her message, delivered to a packed hall of professionals, executives, and change-makers in the field of Human Resources at the National HR Conference 2025 ogranised by CIPM at Monarch Imperial, was both simple and profound: stop treating empathy as a discretionary soft skill and start wielding it as a strategic necessity for growth.
“Empathy is not soft. It is not sentimental. It’s science. And in the world we live in today, it’s survival,” she declared, her voice resonating with conviction. Nicklin, the internationally bestselling author of Softening the Edge and a globally recognized voice for workplace well-being, argued that many of Sri Lanka’s most pressing challenges from productivity slumps to talent drain are symptoms of a deeper, more pervasive issue: a critical and growing “empathy deficit.”
Graham Bodie is an internationally recognized expert on listening and has published over 90 monographs, book chapters, and encyclopedia entries. His most recent co-edited project, The Handbook of Listening, is the first comprehensive and interdisciplinary resource on the topic. Graham is professor of Media and Communication at University of Mississippi.
I’m new to the “empathy is sin” debate, which has been bouncing around for years in the rightwing Christian echo chamber.
It’s gained new traction in the wider culture recently as rabble rousers such as Elon Musk and JD Vance have pushed variations of it.
“I believe in empathy, like, I think you should care about other people, but you need to have empathy for, for civilization as a whole, and not commit to a civilizational suicide,” Musk said on Joe Rogan’s podcast in February. “The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy.”
New research shows customers don’t want as much empathy as we think they do and apologizing too much can hurt CX more than no apology at all. How much empathy do you really need? And what role should AI play?
What do you feel as you watch the video of the young woman walking on the streets of Somerville MA as a masked group of men and women circle her, grab her hands, pin them behind her, and lead her away as she screams? If you can imagine her feelings of horror and fear, and then couple those feelings with the knowledge that she is Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish doctoral student who merely wrote about saving lives in Gaza in her college newspaper, you are engaging in empathy.
Empathy is the intertwining of feeling and thinking when imagining the lives of others. In this instance, we imagine Ozturk’s fear and connect this feeling to the reasoned idea that there is no longer due process in our country.
Consider also the evangelical turn against empathy. There are now Christian writers and theologians who are mounting a frontal attack against the very value that allows us to understand our neighbors, that places us in their shoes and asks what we would want and need if we were in their place.
Caring for others is empathy. Empathy’s not sympathy, which is good, but incomplete, just feeling bad for someone. Empathy is openness to others and more. Generally, it’s when people identify with, try to understand and share others’ situations and feelings, to “sense the hurt or the pleasure of another.”
But recently, there’ve been critics. Cynics, I’d say, complaining that empathy is dangerous or old-fashioned.
Northwestern University researcher Kevin Waldman in April warned of “radical empathy.” He didn’t adequately explain, but “radical” is a loaded word with connotations, intentional or not. It’s like saying a woman’s “only” 5-foot-2, which implies she should be taller. (Maybe, if she’s in the WNBA.)
Failing to listen has become one of the most concerning problems society faces. Proper communication is the core of interactions at work, in schools, and personal relationships, yet listening is treated as a passive or secondary skill. Even when people appear to listen, they typically do so poorly. They are distracted, tune out, or prepare their responses while the speaker is still talking.
Christine Miles, the CEO of EQuipt and an expert in listening, asserts that the issue lies in how individuals are wired and educated. “We’re told to listen instead of taught to listen,” she explains. Unknown to many, listening is a complex skill that requires focus and intentionality, and most people lack the tools to develop it.
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