If there is a human driver that supersedes professional success, personal growth, and even family, it is the desire to belong. Community, after all, is a survival mechanism, and survival is every living creature’s deepest instinct. Human beings build community through the empathic exchange of personal experience; that is, listening to one another’s stories.
If you’ve read Yuval Noah Hariri’s best-selling Sapiens (2011) you know this is the reason we, as a species, overcame the Neanderthals and emerged as the dominant life form on Earth. Despite their superior strength and comparable intellect, the Neanderthals lacked the storytelling ability needed to nurture peace among large groups and so could not compete. Empathic listening is the backbone of this ability and so it’s no surprise, then, that it continues to be a singularly powerful attribute. Apply this knowledge to sales and let me tell you, your success will be like nothing you’ve ever imagined.
This is especially important in business. People not only desire to be heard and understood, they need to be. Offering this means offering the promise of safety and there really is nothing that matters more than that. Everybody wants to feel safe. When you tap this, you open the floodgates to connection and from there, success. However, there is more to empathic listening than simply lending an ear. Building this skill and learning to apply it in a business environment is a matter of professional development as much as anything else you might do to advance your firm.
Business conducted on the basis of empathy has no downside, and ensuring employees receive the support they need will drive your firm’s growth. Click here to schedule a qualifier call with me today, and discover how nurturing trust on the basis of sincere empathy will help the success of your firm.
