Why empathy is one of the most underrated skills in the modern business environment
In my years as a CPA, consultant, business student, and college instructor, I can confidently say that the empathy is one the most valuable skills I have developed. Oxford defines empathy as “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another,” and as the business world becomes more and more about human connections, the ability to practice and utilize empathy and emotional intelligence becomes a competitive advantage.
Contrary to some popular beliefs, as technology plays a more prominent role in business and our society, it is MORE important (not less) to be able to develop people skills and relationships. As technology and services become commoditized, the differentiation factor for business becomes the people and the human relationship element. Empathy serves as the fundamental building block of human relationships and can be applied to any relationship or instance of human interaction. It should be noted that this does not only apply to businesses selling to customers or client-facing personnel, it can also be utilized in various other circumstances. In this series we will examine how empathy can be a difference maker in the following relationships:
- Employee <–> Manager
- Business <–> Customer
- Coworkers <–> Coworkers
- Employee <–> Employer
- Businesses / Employees <–> Consultants / Auditors
- Teacher <–> Student
Empathy as outlined in these examples is aligns with Scale Financial Education’s key belief: Context Matters. As we explore these relationships, we will aim to demonstrate that exercising empathy can lead to more positive results. Stay tuned to see how these examples work out with practical real world examples in upcoming blog series entries!
Do you have an example where consciously using empathy in a professional relationship benefited you? If you would like to add your experience to the series, please feel free to share by emailing us at scalefinancialeducation@gmail.com!