The Strategic Importance of Empathy

The key to dealing with difficult people is learning to widen your perspective.

Two people speaking in a board room. Credit: Elena Zhukova

August 05, 2020

| by Beth Rimbey

Misunderstandings and incorrect assumptions are behind most conflicts among coworkers, says Ed Batista, a Stanford Graduate School of Business lecturer and executive coach. Learn to be empathetic with difficult peers, stakeholders, and investors, and you’ll find a lot of “problem people” actually meant well all along.

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