Empathy has always been rightfully regarded as a key ingredient for successful community engagement and building trust. Craig Spencer said in the New York Times recently, “America’s leaders are increasingly casting aside empathy and compassionate care as dangerous liabilities. Elon Musk has called empathy ‘the fundamental weakness of Western civilization,’ and the Trump administration governs as if that is a guiding principle. The belief that we have a responsibility to others isn’t shortsighted sentimentalism; it’s the moral foundation of a meaningful life. 

“Caring for others is a moral obligation, not a partisan position. If we allow the Trump administration’s assault on empathy to define our global health agenda, or ourselves, we won’t just be turning away from the world – we’ll be turning away from who we are.” And I’d add to that sentiment: who we used to be. 

Are we losing the ability and willingness to care? Pew research finds that 76% of Americans believe the president makes a big difference in the nation’s mood, which explains, and evidence confirms, why a lot of people are in a generally lousy mood these days. All of this has a negative effect on our ability to think beyond our own self-preservation. It’s hard to focus on others when you’re working to maintain your own sanity.

So on that note, my gentle snowflakes, please read on to consider the concept of empathy as our longtime pal and colleague Lewis “Moose” Michaelson wisely describes it.

The construct of empathy requires a behavior and trait that we’ve addressed in this blog before, but it’s a big enough deal to repeat from another angle: the art of active, intentional listening. When that’s done well, even inside of an active and lively conversation, whomever you’re engaging with feels actually seen. Try these ten tips.

A pupil of Sigmund Freud came up with the concept of the “third ear” to explain listening as a way of sensing what’s truly important in what’s being said, hearing what’s not being said, and understanding what’s actually happening in the silence between the lines.