I once worked in the in-house agency of a large multi-channel retailer, managing a team of writers and designers. I was a middle manager, on a leadership track, not quite at the point of being groomed, but perhaps being considered for it. But before the company would take anyone to the next level of responsibility, they tested you—skills, behaviors, character—at a three-day leadership offsite. During this time the test results were analyzed and interpreted by the seminar leader, a “consultant” who’d worked for the company for years. Like the company itself, this process was painfully old school.

One of the qualities we were tested for was “empathy”—of which I tested high. Off the charts, in fact; but too high, apparently. The presumption was that if I had strong feelings or attachments for people, in particular my team, I would not make a good manager or leader, I would not be effective; my team and co-workers would not respect me, etc. (In fact, the empathy category has since been removed from the company’s testing process.)

The irony is of course, for creative marketing professionals, writers and designers, or anyone who aspires to connect brands with customers through compelling messages and stories, empathy may be the most valuable quality to have. This is suggested in the article “Brands Be Nimble,” in the most recent issue (Jan/Feb 2012) of The Hub, authored by Ayo Seligman and Kay Whitchurch of Landor’s San Francisco office. They put empathy at the top of the list of principles essential for any company that wants to stay relevant, agile and adaptable in today’s ever-changing and complex business environment. “Empathizing with your audiences creates deeper connections and gives you a greater understanding of the people whose lives the brand seeks to enrich.”

I have read this kind of statement before, in other business books that attempt to identify ideal worker qualities, and where empathy is sited as essential. It was given an entire chapter in one of my favorite books on the creative process, Daniel Pink’s “A Whole New Mind.” Pink defines empathy as “the ability to imagine yourself in someone else’s position and to intuit what that person is feeling. It is the ability to stand in others’ shoes, to see with their eyes, and to feel with their hearts.”

One of my greatest strengths as a marketing writer is to identify with my audience. Because I am a consumer, too, I’ve often looked at my own behaviors to understand how I might react to an ad or offer I am helping to create. This is qualitative, of course, which is suspect often in the eyes of the quantitative types. But it’s gut reaction, intuition, empathy, which will always be important to the way I do my job and live my life. In fact, one can argue that empathy is essential not just for business, but for a healthy mind and body as well.

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