Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says empathy isn’t a soft skill — it’s actually ‘the hardest skill we learn’::Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella talked about the importance of empathy as a skill in the business world while accepting the Axel Springer Award in Berlin.
I feel like he’s telling on himself. I think for most people having a sense of empathy is the default, and learning how and when (if ever) to ignore that feeling is the hard part.
You guys just don’t understand how hard it is to make yourself think of other humans as important. This takes practice and effort! I spend 10 minutes a day thinking of how other people might feel and it’s exhausting. Anyway, the spreadsheet numbers are smaller than they used to be, so I’ll just do a round of layoffs.
Not excusing it, but I’d say it’s very easy to feel disconnected from others when you’re in a privileged position of power.
Everyone else becomes “them”, and you lose track of what “normal” or “average” experiences are like, because you tend to live within a very different space to others, and tend only associate with people with similar privilege levels.
I remember visiting my country’s Parliament building, and within about 15 minutes having this weird sense of disconnection due to the incredibly different beautiful and privileged environment. Everywhere were massive pieces of art, beautiful marble inlays, everything was clean and well ordered, great big wide open spaces, beautifully carved wooden chairs in dining areas etc.
I remember thinking no wonder politicians tend to be labelled disconnected and removed from the concerns of the average citizen. If I was working in that building 8-12 hours a day, 4-6 days a week, 40+ weeks a year, I’d find it hard to remain grounded and to also remind myself that what I was experiencing was something less than 5% of the population might experience, rather than being the “norm” or standard for the majority of the population.
It’s not even just privilege. Somebody disagrees with you? Somebody has different preferences to you? Somebody is different?
Well they are the other and don’t deserve empathy because they are wrong and bad. We’ve all done it at some point. The real mark of an empathetic person is realizing and adapting to your biases and not sticking to your superiority complex when you realize it or it’s pointed out to you.
It can be hard to be empathetic to people who are different. We all have built in bias. It’s how we treat people that disagree or are different where true colors shine through. Are you insulting and full of hatred? Or do you talk to them and try to get an understanding of their life and position?
This is all my opinion, however.
Microsoft ceo + empathy doesn’t seem right
Almost any CEO + empathy doesn’t seem right.
At least 20% of people in executive positions are psychopaths. Literally psychopaths. Not sociopaths, full on psychos.
I can almost guarantee that the Venn diagram of psychopaths and executives at Fortune 500 companies is a circle.
Flawed study. Real psychos/socios know never to reveal the truth and lie until the music stops.
If we’re going to be accurate, both psychopathy and sociopathy aren’t recognized as clinically diagnosable conditions. The things we think of as psychopathy and sociopathy are part of a spectrum of personality disorders. Basically the same reason we don’t fall people with down syndrome mongoloids anymore. It’s inaccurate and stigmatizing. Not to say that CEOs aren’t terrible, they are
Idk empathy came a lot more naturally to me than fucking technical writing and calc. It’s just giving a shit, you were supposed to learn it by kindergarten
Nah, successful sociopaths understand and perfectly emulate traits like empathy, often better than those who actually experience such traits.
A lot of people think they have empathy, but for many of them it’s very limited when it comes to other people who are not similar enough to the person themselves (or people close to them). E.g. people from a different background or socioeconomic class.
Empathy often ends wherever a person’s perceived “tribe” ends.
I don’t say this to be edgy or confrontational, but it’s not like that for everyone. I am 26 and have no idea how to empathise with people, it’s not an innate thing for me and I have to put a lot of effort into learning it.
Not really here to argue any point, just food for thought.
Fair, it’s one of those things that can be easy to forget when not reminded unfortunately. To me empathizing just happens when I see a face. I sometimes have to remember that people like you (and my girlfriend actually) have to do it on purpose. For people like me learning empathy is more learning to channel it in positive ways rather than remembering to think of others’ feelings.
says the CEO of a company which laid off 10,000 employees in January
It’s so comforting to know the skin-suits are trying to learn.
