{"id":40377,"date":"2018-02-27T04:45:13","date_gmt":"2018-02-27T10:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/?p=40377"},"modified":"2018-02-27T04:45:13","modified_gmt":"2018-02-27T10:45:13","slug":"empathy-and-entrepreneurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/empathy-and-entrepreneurs\/","title":{"rendered":"One Superpower Successful Entrepreneurs Have in Common"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s no secret that entrepreneurship is a difficult path, with many pitfalls along the way. According to Merriam-Webster<\/a>, the very definition of an entrepreneur is someone who \u201cassumes the risks of a business or enterprise.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no magic solution that\u2019s going to remove that risk or guarantee your business will succeed. When you set out to build a new business, you do so with the knowledge that many who have gone before you have failed.<\/p>\n

That said, there is one skill you can cultivate that will significantly increase your chance of success: effective empathy.<\/p>\n

Unlocking your empathy advantage<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s easy to brush past empathy as another \u201csoft skill\u201d that\u2019s nice to have, all things considered. But in the modern world of business, effective empathy is a skill that can make or break your ability to succeed.<\/p>\n

At its core, empathy is the ability to see life from another person\u2019s perspective, to \u201cput yourself in another person\u2019s shoes,\u201d as the saying goes. In business, effective empathy allows you to get inside the mind of your target audience, and identify problems (from their perspective) that you can help solve.<\/p>\n

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Contrast this with the approach many entrepreneurs take: scratching their own itch by solving their own problems and selling the solution. Sometimes, this works\u2014but only because enough people with the same problem are seeking a solution. Maybe you'll luck out, but it' a risky bet.<\/p>\n

\u00c1ngel Cabrera, President of George Mason University, put it this way in a report from Forbes<\/a>, \u201cAt its very heart, a business is the beauty of bringing together people and things to make the community better off\u2014these are the businesses we admire. Empathy is the one tool that makes it all happen.”<\/p>\n

Here are three practices I'd recommend for cultivating your empathy advantage:<\/p>\n

1. Seek first to understand, then to be understood<\/h3>\n

This comes directly from Stephen Covey\u2019s classic bestseller, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People<\/em><\/a>. When this approach becomes your priority, every interaction with a potential customer becomes \u201cHow can we help you?\u201d instead of \u201cHere\u2019s how we can help.\u201d<\/p>\n

That subtle difference completely shifts the conversation, making your potential customers feel valued. This approach keeps you on track to create products or services that meet real needs your audience shares.<\/p>\n

If you only adopt one of these practices, choose this one. Setting your own ambitions aside to truly understand another person is a required first step to cultivate empathy.<\/p>\n\t\t