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47. Marni Mandell
Executive Leadership Catalyzer, Co-Founder Konnecto
Empathy
What it means?
Empathy is the ability to feel how another feels, and then act in service of that feeling to motivate others to greatness.
Why it matters?
Leaders can often take a myopic view of their people, only seeing them through their own lens. When a government’s short-term political future is at stake, it may prioritize serving only those who can help maintain its power. Empathy means understanding the motivations, needs, fears, and hopes of those who disagree with us or do not serve our power interests.
Through empathy, our country’s leadership can unite and revive the magic and solidarity that built this modern miracle.
How can we promote it?
Create community-based open forums with skilled facilitators across the country to promote dialogue and understanding on key social issues. Conflict-resolution frameworks can be used to ensure that different perspectives are heard and honored. To support this initiative, an army unit could be created to train facilitators and deploy them across the country. Similar to jury duty in the US, participation in these forums could be mandatory to build empathy among the public. This would give politician to build relationships with constituents who hold different views.