What is empathy? And why has it become such a coveted ‘soft skill’ at work?

Decoding Empathy

Part I

Decoding the Language of Empathy

Ask 100 people what empathy is, and you'll get 100 different answers. Yet, empathy is billed as an essential “soft skill" for today's world of work. So what is it? And what is it not? Tara begins the series by investigating empathy’s origin story, her experience with empathy as an autistic person, and the difficulty theorists have with defining empathy.

“It is almost a miracle; it is a miracle.

Nearly all those who think they have this capacity do not possess it. Warmth of heart, impulsiveness, pity are not enough."

— Simone Weil

Part II

A Brand is a Constellation

The farther you are from what Audre Lorde calls ‘the mythical norm,’ the harder it is for others to recognize you. That’s where brand scientist and behavioral strategist Chloé Nwangwu comes in. She helps underrecognized people craft brand strategies that help them stand out. Tara talks with Chloé about how empathy intersects with understanding the power of difference.

Difference is that raw and powerful connection from which our personal power is forged.

— Audra Lorde, “Eye to Eye”

Part III

Decoding Accessibility

Accessibility is more than a checklist. Disability studies scholar Tanya Titchkosky argues that accessibility is really a question—one that sparks a “politics of wonder.” Tara talks with disability advocate Erin Perkins about how she guides small business owners to practice empathy with curiosity and wonder rather than trying to check all the right boxes.

“We are all, in some sense, half and half," writes Tanya Titchkosky, “a part of and apart from where we find ourselves." Half in the circle of recognition and half out of the circle of recognition.

Part IV

Copywriters & Doppelgangers

How could the idea of “doubling" ourselves—becoming our own doppelgangers—as we present ourselves online (and also offline) help us consider what we actually know about others? Drawing on Naomi Klein’s 2023 book Doppelganger and an interview with copywriter Samantha Pollack, Tara investigates how our expectations can derail our empathy.

We are dynamic, contradictory, fluid, transient, and quixotic.

Even when we discover this about ourselves, many of us fail to apply the discovery to others. We recognize that we are not who others perceive us to be, no matter how carefully we've sown those perceptions. But we forget that the same is true of everyone we meet. Our expectations thwart empathy.

Part V

How to Make Room For Others

Empathy can prompt us to consider how our actions, the spaces we inhabit, and the culture of the groups in which we participate impact others. Tara talks with Leonie Smith, founder of The Thoughtful Workplace, about how to make room for others with empathy using nonviolent communication.

“...more often than not, people are willing to make an accommodation in order to support you in feeling more fully heard.”

— Leonie Smith, The Thoughtful Workplace