Empathy in Business: Nice or Necessary? - With Maria Ross | Episode 337
The Futur with Chris Do
The Futur
5 • 976 Ratings
🗓️ 2 April 2025
⏱️ 68 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, I sit down with Maria Ross, an author, speaker, and empathy advocate, to explore the power of empathy in leadership, branding, and creative work. We unpack the two types of empathy—cognitive and affective—and how understanding them can transform relationships, client interactions, and even pricing strategies. Maria shares insights from her books, The Empathy Edge and The Empathy Dilemma, addressing misconceptions around empathy in business. We discuss how ego and insecurity can block empathy, the dangers of "empathy hijacking," and the balance between compassion and high performance. Whether you're a leader, entrepreneur, or creative professional, this episode is packed with practical strategies to integrate empathy into your work without burning out.
Timestamps:
(00:00) - Introduction to Maria Ross
(00:33) - Maria’s background in branding and empathy advocacy
(01:49) - Why empathy matters for small teams and solopreneurs
(02:14) - The business case for empathy in leadership
(07:13) - Why creatives struggle with empathy
(09:03) - The two types of empathy: cognitive vs. affective
(13:33) - Ego and insecurity as empathy blockers
(20:04) - The problem with "radical honesty" and weaponized empathy
(29:07) - How to respond empathetically without "hijacking" the conversation
(36:41) - The power of curiosity in empathy
(40:15) - Empathy in pricing: charging based on client impact
(50:13) - Leadership challenges: balancing empathy and performance
(57:22) - How to build an empathetic workplace culture
(59:10) - Where to find Maria and her books
Check out today's guest, Maria Ross:
Maria's book website: https://theempathydilemma.com/
Maria's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariajross
Maria's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/redslicemaria
Check out The Futur:
Website: https://www.thefutur.com/
Courses: https://www.thefutur.com/shop
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-futur/
Podcasts: https://thefutur.com/podcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefuturishere/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theFuturisHere/
Twitter: https://x.com/thefuturishere
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thefuturishere
Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/thefuturishere
Check out Chris Do:
Website: https://zaap.bio/thechrisdo
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/thechrisdo/
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/BizOfDesign
Instagram:
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Curiosity is the number one trait of empathic people because they don't guess what your point of view is. They ask you. |
| 0:10.0 | I'm Maria Ross and you're listening to the future. |
| 0:20.8 | Okay, Maria, I'm happy to have you on the show. |
| 0:23.3 | I've done a little bit of research, but let's just have it from your point of view, |
| 0:27.5 | your lens and start there. |
| 0:29.2 | Please introduce yourself and then tell us a little bit of your story and we'll jump into it. |
| 0:33.8 | I will. |
| 0:34.5 | So I am a speaker, an author, workshop facilitator, and an empathy advocate. And I believe that |
| 0:42.1 | leaders, cultures, and brands can achieve radical success through empathy. And I came at that |
| 0:48.7 | work through a long career in marketing and then running my own brand consultancy since 2008. |
| 0:56.0 | So I come at it from a brand angle. |
| 0:58.9 | So that's why it's great to talk to you and talk about this here. |
| 1:02.0 | But I really try to help leaders and teams understand what empathy is and what it isn't |
| 1:08.4 | so that they can leverage it in an effective way in the workplace. |
| 1:12.5 | And really, my sneaky mission overall is to make the world a more empathetic place. |
| 1:17.4 | I'm just starting at work where people spend the bulk of their time and they can practice |
| 1:21.9 | that skill, which will spill over into their personal lives and into their communities. |
| 1:26.6 | Okay, wonderful. |
| 1:32.3 | I'm going to ask while we're having this conversation, if at all possible, if you can frame this for maybe not so much like big environments, because the people who are listening to this, |
| 1:37.3 | they're running much smaller operations, how they could possibly use empathy and client |
| 1:41.5 | interactions or just with their team of two or three or five |
| 1:44.9 | people, not giant corporations where I think there's a real dilemma that's going on there. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Futur, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Futur and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.