Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says empathy isn’t a soft skill — it’s actually ‘the hardest skill we learn’::Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella talked about the importance of empathy as a skill in the business world while accepting the Axel Springer Award in Berlin.
I feel like he’s telling on himself. I think for most people having a sense of empathy is the default, and learning how and when (if ever) to ignore that feeling is the hard part.
You guys just don’t understand how hard it is to make yourself think of other humans as important. This takes practice and effort! I spend 10 minutes a day thinking of how other people might feel and it’s exhausting. Anyway, the spreadsheet numbers are smaller than they used to be, so I’ll just do a round of layoffs.
Empathy is not universal. You persuade yourself that somebody is miserable, annoying, weak, unpleasant, and you are not empathetic to them anymore.
Well, at least I feel myself to be weird for not doing that and preventing myself from doing that.
Not excusing it, but I’d say it’s very easy to feel disconnected from others when you’re in a privileged position of power.
Everyone else becomes “them”, and you lose track of what “normal” or “average” experiences are like, because you tend to live within a very different space to others, and tend only associate with people with similar privilege levels.
I remember visiting my country’s Parliament building, and within about 15 minutes having this weird sense of disconnection due to the incredibly different beautiful and privileged environment. Everywhere were massive pieces of art, beautiful marble inlays, everything was clean and well ordered, great big wide open spaces, beautifully carved wooden chairs in dining areas etc.
I remember thinking no wonder politicians tend to be labelled disconnected and removed from the concerns of the average citizen. If I was working in that building 8-12 hours a day, 4-6 days a week, 40+ weeks a year, I’d find it hard to remain grounded and to also remind myself that what I was experiencing was something less than 5% of the population might experience, rather than being the “norm” or standard for the majority of the population.
It’s not even just privilege. Somebody disagrees with you? Somebody has different preferences to you? Somebody is different?
Well they are the other and don’t deserve empathy because they are wrong and bad. We’ve all done it at some point. The real mark of an empathetic person is realizing and adapting to your biases and not sticking to your superiority complex when you realize it or it’s pointed out to you.
It can be hard to be empathetic to people who are different. We all have built in bias. It’s how we treat people that disagree or are different where true colors shine through. Are you insulting and full of hatred? Or do you talk to them and try to get an understanding of their life and position?
This is all my opinion, however.
Microsoft ceo + empathy doesn’t seem right
Almost any CEO + empathy doesn’t seem right.
At least 20% of people in executive positions are psychopaths. Literally psychopaths. Not sociopaths, full on psychos.
I can almost guarantee that the Venn diagram of psychopaths and executives at Fortune 500 companies is a circle.
I can almost guarantee that the Venn diagram of psychopaths and executives at Fortune 500 companies is a circle.
This made me LOL
Flawed study. Real psychos/socios know never to reveal the truth and lie until the music stops.
Wait, but isn’t that what CEOs do?
This, and sometimes they have to dance, too.
Stupid sexy Balmer.
If we’re going to be accurate, both psychopathy and sociopathy aren’t recognized as clinically diagnosable conditions. The things we think of as psychopathy and sociopathy are part of a spectrum of personality disorders. Basically the same reason we don’t fall people with down syndrome mongoloids anymore. It’s inaccurate and stigmatizing. Not to say that CEOs aren’t terrible, they are
Just to be a little more specific, those traits are part of what’s known as the dark triad, which include psychopathy, narcissism, and machiavellianism. These traits are generally related to cluster B personality disorders, among which antisocial personality disorder has the strongest correlation with psychopathy.
That’s why he said it’s the hardest skill to learn…for him.
says the CEO of a company which laid off 10,000 employees in January
But he did it while feeling it with them
All of them at once, or one after the other?
All of them at once while saying the words.
Idk empathy came a lot more naturally to me than fucking technical writing and calc. It’s just giving a shit, you were supposed to learn it by kindergarten
It’s hard if you’re a sociopath, which is a prereq to being CEO
Nah, successful sociopaths understand and perfectly emulate traits like empathy, often better than those who actually experience such traits.
I have a family member who almost certainly has antisocial personality disorder and your assessment is dead on.
A lot of people think they have empathy, but for many of them it’s very limited when it comes to other people who are not similar enough to the person themselves (or people close to them). E.g. people from a different background or socioeconomic class.
Empathy often ends wherever a person’s perceived “tribe” ends.
I don’t say this to be edgy or confrontational, but it’s not like that for everyone. I am 26 and have no idea how to empathise with people, it’s not an innate thing for me and I have to put a lot of effort into learning it.
Not really here to argue any point, just food for thought.
It’s not just you. I really struggle with it too. I’m terrible at maintaining friendships because of it.
Fair, it’s one of those things that can be easy to forget when not reminded unfortunately. To me empathizing just happens when I see a face. I sometimes have to remember that people like you (and my girlfriend actually) have to do it on purpose. For people like me learning empathy is more learning to channel it in positive ways rather than remembering to think of others’ feelings.
in my experience, ive had to remind a lot of my IT colleagues to have empathy, and quite often.
also, what may be natural to you isnt necessairly easy for others.
It’s so comforting to know the skin-suits are trying to learn.
CEO: Become Human
Most CEOs are sociopaths so that tracks.
This person has trained themselves to suppress their empathy or perhaps they have empathy for this stockholders. They laid off a ton of people this year and more will be coming after their huge acquisition.
But some are naturals in it. People with status/high positions often unlearn it. So i guess it’s rather the reverse.
Btw: 2/3 of people in similiar positions like Satya have no empathy but are good in faking it.
Well, they’re paid to ignore it and press on with business.
Easier to pay one who just doesn’t have it. A shareholders dream.
This year, Microsoft announced they wanted to cut 10,000 jobs. They are in the middle of linked in layoffs right now.
Its pretty telling how difficult it was for him to develop empathy for his son’s health struggles instead of bemoaning his lost plans. I wonder how difficult he’d find learning the concept of personal accountability
This sounds like what an AI would come up with when it’s trying to be deep
2023, took away annual inflation raise for the entire company during one of the worst years for inflation. Went to the board of directors and got himself a huge increase in his salary.
Alternate title: Microsoft CEO doesn’t know what “soft skill” means
I finally found out who is the Microsoft CEO lol
Steve Ballmer era was crazy.
Steve Ballmer was crazy.
Why lol
I don’t know much about him tbh, but whenever you’re talking about Steve Ballmer you have to mention the “Developers” video: https://youtu.be/XxbJw8PrIkc?si=wo_5LMsM4k-lKhBq
Also the Ballmer Peak is funny: https://xkcd.com/323/
Ever notice how he constantly sounds 17? Even with the constant voice cracking like he’s still going through puberty
LinkedIn did layoffs 48h ago
Axel Springer owns Business Insider, that’s why they are reporting it.
In Germany Axel Springer also owns Bild, which is very similar to Fox news. And it owns Welt, which is Bild in a business suit.
“It’s not soft! It’s difficult!”
Wuuuuuuut
