Ted Kennedy & the Business Case for Empathy
August 29, 2009
Published in 
Like many of you, I just saw Obama eulogize a perennial supporter of the underdog–Ted Kennedy. This week, I also read a great blog post on Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. So, I’ve been thinking about Ted, Rev. King & their support for those who had little “voice”…both were masters of empathy and able to see the world from the perspective of the less fortunate.
Empathy is also incredibly important in everything we do as leaders and marketers. For those looking to design products and campaigns that have meaning and purpose, a deep WHO understanding is essential.
If you read just 1 of the weekly wrap-up items below, check out the one on how Rev. King uses empathy to masterfully respond to critics.
Empathy: Not Such a Soft Skill: This HBR article argues that empathy is highly critical for managers and argues that empathy isn’t about being nice or tolerant. It’s not about feeling sorry for people or giving them the benefit of the doubt. Instead, empathy is an act of imagination in which you try to look at the world from the perspective of another person, a human being whose history and point of view are as complex as your own. The Oxford English Dictionary‘s definition of Empathy is: “The power of projecting one’s personality into (and so fully comprehending) the object of contemplation.”
How to respond to Criticism – Learning from Rev. King: This is a great article on how to fashion an empathetic (as defined by the article above) response to critics. Rev. King could deeply feel and understand the plight of his brothers, and his leadership in the struggle for Civil Rights galvanized an entire nation…so what do you think is the greatest struggle of our time? Global poverty? Global warming? Insuring the 50 Million uninsured in the US? Let me know if you have a comment…
A Survival Guide for the Age of Meaning: This guide is right up the “m-cause alley”. It argues that much deeper levels of empathy will be needed by firms in the Age of Meaning as businesses and brands create value and competitive advantage only when they deliver a holistic experience that is authentic, unique and relevant.
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- Remembering Ted Kennedy: How a 1968 Speech Comforted an 8 Year-Old (firedoglake.com)
- Dr. Alveda King Remembers Sen. Edward Kennedy (deaconforlife.blogspot.com)
- Kerry: Kennedy’s “Incomparable Love of Life” (cbsnews.com)
- They’re still going after Ted Kennedy (washingtonmonthly.com)
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Thanks for addressing empathy from this perspective…
This is a very true statement:
” It argues that much deeper levels of empathy will be needed by firms in the Age of Meaning as businesses and brands create value and competitive advantage only when they deliver a holistic experience that is authentic, unique and relevant.”
In the past, society’s “makeup” did not dictate to those in power a need to understand others. There was only one population of importance, or for that matter, that could effect the economy. Now the world is different. Our enemies have shown their faces. We cannot afford to discriminate against, oppress or ignore any population–our fellow citizens.
In all fields of business, we must be able to (at the least willing to) see things from another person’s point of view if we want growth and success.