August 8, 2012 Top 10 Reasons Why Empathy Is A Bad Idea For Business Business Share this post: People talk quite a lot about empathy as an important quality of modern leaders. There are blogs and sites vaunting its beneficial powers (See below for a good list of resources). The issue is that empathy is not a natural skill. It takes time to develop and hone. And, I would argue that one’s ability to show or experience empathy changes according to the person, the context and one’s state of mind. Thus, empathy is something that may be in constant development. That takes effort and a certain myndset. For those of you not willing to make the effort, taking another tack, may I suggest this list is for you. What empathy is not for! Herewith the top 10 reasons why empathy may not be a good idea for business. I have added some pre-populated {tweet this} links to make it easier to tweet out certain phrases, if you feel like it! Being an Army General and sending soldiers to war, it is advisable not to have empathy. I guess that depends if you think business is warfare, and if your employees are soldiers? In a fear and control style of management, it is hard to torture people if you have empathy. {Tweet this} Taking a quote from RonBC at Notes from Underground, “[N]ow that various centres of empathy have been identified in the brain, evil can be tested by defining it as an absence of empathy.” When you have to cut costs and lay off people, empathy is not your best friend. {Tweet this} Cost killers don’t want to have to worry about the personal effects and collateral damage. It’s not advisable to be too empathetic to negotiate against someone else unless, that is, you think that understanding their motives is helpful. Without empathy, you won’t feel a need to provide a reason why when you give orders. Keeping your team motivated is not a primary concern. It is also said that it is easier to lie without empathy. Sociopaths are known for their lack of empathy. “A psychopath’s lack of empathy and guilt allows them to lie with ease – ‘they don’t see the value of telling the truth unless it will help get them what they want.'” From Catherine’s post “Without Empathy“ Without empathy, you won’t need to understand why someone at work is upset at the beginning of the day, or needs to leave early in the afternoon. Your company culture privileges presenteesm (for example, everyone should always show up at work and work until the boss leaves). Concepts like distance work, flexible work hours are anathema to the company. Without empathy, you won’t find listening to clients complain very useful. {Tweet this} Without empathy, you might find social media a waste of time. {Tweet this} In fact, empathy takes time, too, so if you are a beast of efficiency then don’t go about worrying yourself with empathy. As the late Stephen Covey said, “Empathy takes time, and efficiency is for things, not people.” Without empathy, you are not going to be a good coach. Then again, what kind of leader needs to be a coach at work? If you are not worried about motivating your team or having them learn, then you certainly don’t want to waste your time with empathy. Without empathy, you will find it easier to outsource customer service and use an automated answering system. How are you doing so far? Which reasons ring a bell for you? On a personal level, I don’t know many successful happy marriages where both partners don’t have a developed sense of empathy. If, as a senior executive (or anyone else for that matter), the goal is also to live a fulfilling married life*, I would argue that empathy is a powerful asset on the home front. So, if being happily married is not important, you won’t have to worry about empathy, either. {Tweet this} Further Reading: Empathy blogs and posts Culture of Empathy – led by Edwin Rutsch Jeremy Rifkin on TED: The Empathic Civilization The Limits of Empathy, NYT by David Brooks – a worthwhile read. Favorite empathy quote I end with a quote from Susan Sarandon: ““When you start to develop your powers of empathy and imagination, the whole world opens up to you.” The rest, I say, is up to you! *Married or living together (i.e. long term partner whether or not married) NEWSletter Subscribe to Minter’s Bi-Weekly NEWSletter and receive a free copy of the exclusive and updated 8 Golden Rules of an eReputation Your Gift For Signing Up 8 Golden Rules of an eReputation SUBSCRIBE! You have Successfully Subscribed! business, corporate culture, cost killer, customer service, empathy, leadership, leadership skills, listening skills Minter Dial Minter Dial is an international professional speaker, author & consultant on Leadership, Branding and Digital Strategy. After a successful international career at L’Oréal, Minter Dial returned to his entrepreneurial roots and has spent the last ten years helping senior management teams and Boards to adapt to the new exigencies of the digitally enhanced marketplace. He has worked with world-class organisations to help activate their brand strategies, and figure out how best to integrate new technologies, digital tools, devices and platforms. Above all, Minter works to catalyse a change in mindset and dial up transformation. Minter received his BA in Trilingual Literature from Yale University (1987) and gained his MBA at INSEAD, Fontainebleau (1993). His newest book Heartificial Empathy, Putting Heart into Business and Artificial Intelligence, bowed in December 2018 and won the Book Excellence Award 2019 as well as being shortlisted for the Business Book Awards 2019. It's available in Audiobook, Kindle and Paperback. He is also co-author of Futureproof (Pearson, Sep 2017) and sole author of The Last Ring Home (Myndset Press, Nov 2016), a book and documentary film, both of which have won awards and critical acclaim. Minter has a new book on leadership, You Lead, How being yourself makes you a better leader, published by Kogan Page, that released January 2021. It's easy to inquire about booking Minter Dial here. View all posts by Minter Dial Previous post Next post
yendi August 9, 2012 at 10:08 am No empathy, no need to respect: people, deadlines, quality, etc… but, as everything in life, empathy is relative, and varies to your degree of willingness to do good. It has been well documented that cruel crimes are committed by people (prominently men) without an ounce of empathy.
chad July 6, 2020 at 8:22 am point in case why the world is in absolute chaos right now under the menace Trump. Money before people!
Top 10 reasons why empathy is a bad idea for business | Empathy and Compassion | Scoop.it August 9, 2012 at 5:27 pm […] People talk quite a lot about empathy as an important quality of modern leaders. There are blogs and sites vaunting its beneficial powers (See below for a good list of resources). The issue is that empathy is not a natural skill. It takes time to develop and hone. And, I would argue that one’s ability to show or experience empathy changes according to the person, the context and one’s state of mind. Thus, empathy is something that may be in constant development. That takes effort and a certain myndset. For those of you not willing to make the effort, taking another tack, may I suggest this list is for you. What empathy is not for! Herewith the top 10 reasons why empathy may not be a good idea in business. I have added some {tweet this} links to make it easier to tweet out certain phrases, if you feel like it! 1. Being an Army General and sending soldiers to war,… 2. In a fear and control style of management 3. When you have to cut costs and lay off people, .. by Minter Dial […]
edwinrutsch August 9, 2012 at 5:36 pm thanks for mentioning the Culture of Empathy site Minterl. I added your article to the Empathy Cafe Magazine keep up the good work.. http://scoop.it/t/empathy-and-compassion
Top 10 reasons why empathy is a bad idea for business | Empathy in the Workplace | Scoop.it August 9, 2012 at 5:39 pm […] People talk quite a lot about empathy as an important quality of modern leaders. There are blogs and sites vaunting its beneficial powers (See below for a good list of resources). The issue is that empathy is not a natural skill. It takes time to develop and hone. And, I would argue that one’s ability to show or experience empathy changes according to the person, the context and one’s state of mind. Thus, empathy is something that may be in constant development. That takes effort and a certain myndset. For those of you not willing to make the effort, taking another tack, may I suggest this list is for you. What empathy is not for! Herewith the top 10 reasons why empathy may not be a good idea in business. I have added some {tweet this} links to make it easier to tweet out certain phrases, if you feel like it! 1. Being an Army General and sending soldiers to war,… 2. In a fear and control style of management 3. When you have to cut costs and lay off people, .. by Minter Dial […]
edwinrutsch August 9, 2012 at 5:40 pm Also, perhaps we could do an empathy in business panel discussion around this?
@mdial August 10, 2012 at 7:05 pm Hi @Edwin, Thanks for the mentions. Would be delighted to participate in a panel discussion! It might be interesting to think about the differences in how empathy is implemented across cultures, too? Is there are a difference? How might we proceed? @Yendi: I learned loads about empathy thanks to the Women's Studies courses I took at Yale. Looking at history and literature through the eyes of women was, to coin a phrase, an eye opener! 🙂
Top 10 reasons why empathy is a bad idea for business | Compassionate business practices | Scoop.it September 15, 2012 at 7:45 pm […] People talk quite a lot about empathy as an important quality of modern leaders. There are blogs and sites vaunting its beneficial powers (See below for a good list of resources). The issue is that empathy is not a natural skill. It takes time to develop and hone. And, I would argue that one’s ability to show or experience empathy changes according to the person, the context and one’s state of mind. Thus, empathy is something that may be in constant development. That takes effort and a certain myndset. For those of you not willing to make the effort, taking another tack, may I suggest this list is for you. What empathy is not for! Herewith the top 10 reasons why empathy may not be a good idea in business. I have added some {tweet this} links to make it easier to tweet out certain phrases, if you feel like it! 1. Being an Army General and sending soldiers to war,… 2. In a fear and control style of management 3. When you have to cut costs and lay off people, .. by Minter Dial […]
How can a brand create truly compelling content? | Branding and digital marketing strategy | The Myndset by Minter Dial October 5, 2012 at 8:40 am […] starting point for compelling content needs to be with your end customers, being in their shoes. Empathy is a fundamental component to getting to the heart of the customer’s key preoccupations. The […]
Digital birthday greetings and why Social CRM isn't cheap | Branding and digital marketing strategy | The Myndset by Minter DialBranding and digital marketing strategy | The Myndset by Minter Dial December 16, 2012 at 11:51 am […] in the state of CRM, much less Social CRM. I consider these offers to lack any notion of empathy. For one, on my birthday in the middle of August, there is a reasonably high probability that I […]
Empathy/Sympathy | jennasands2 February 12, 2014 at 6:58 pm […] picture credit to: http://themyndset.com/2012/08/top-10-reasons-why-empathy-is-a-bad-idea-for-business/ […]
How can a brand create truly compelling content? July 27, 2015 at 7:45 pm […] starting point for compelling content needs to be with your end customers, being in their shoes. Empathy is a fundamental component to getting to the heart of the customer’s key preoccupations. The […]
Digital Manners – Stemming the Tide of Poor Habits and Etiquette | | Minter Dial April 30, 2020 at 3:51 pm […] there is a fundamental issue of mental hygiene (to avoid burnout) and societal fabric (greater empathy). More than just complaining I think we also need to establish the right […]