Changing Perspective: Leveraging Empathy for Growth

We’ve all been there: trying to manage the expectations of others while juggling a dozen competing priorities. A customer who’s frustrated with delivery delays. A team member who’s worn thin. A partner who’s pushing for more. It’s easy to respond from a place of defense or emotion based on your assumptions.

What if the solution to the challenge was as simple as changing your perspective?

What Is Empathy?

Empathy is often confused with sympathy, but they’re not the same. Sympathy is feeling for someone, feeling bad that they’re struggling or disappointed. Empathy, on the other hand, is seeing from their point of view. It’s not emotional first; it’s perspective first.

When you practice empathy, you don’t just say, “I understand.” You step into their lens and ask, “What does this look like from where they stand?”

Why Empathy Matters in Business

In business, empathy is one of the most underused tools for solving problems. When we approach customers or colleagues from a place of empathy, we give ourselves room to see the world as they see it.

I once worked with a customer who was growing increasingly frustrated about delivery timelines. Instead of responding with excuses, I sat down with our project manager to reframe the situation. “What if,” I asked, “we looked at this through the customer’s eyes?”

That shift was the catalyst we needed.

Once the project manager understood how the customer experienced the interaction, the uncertainty, the pressure from their leadership, they came up with better solutions than I ever could have suggested. They restructured updates, improved reporting, and built more transparent communication. The result? The relationship didn’t just recover; it strengthened.

Empathy didn’t just defuse frustration. It sparked creativity.

Why Curiosity Matters in Leadership

Curiosity invites creativity. Creativity drives growth. And growth keeps organizations alive.

When leaders replace judgment with curiosity, they start asking better questions, questions that uncover what’s really going on instead of reacting to what’s on the surface. Curiosity keeps leaders from assuming they have all the answers. When we stay curious, we create space for others to share their perspectives and help co-create solutions.

Why Curiosity Matters in Sales and Marketing

In sales and marketing, curiosity changes the conversation. Too often we lead with features and benefits when people really want to feel understood.

Curiosity pushes us to go beyond what something does to explore why it matters. Does this product help someone feel safer? Save time? Build confidence? Reduce risk? Curiosity uncovers the connection point that turns a transaction into a relationship.

And relationships are where the real work happens.

How Empathy Encourages Curiosity

Empathy creates the space for curiosity to thrive. When we step into someone else’s perspective, it quiets judgment and opens understanding.

In that project story, the moment we saw through the customer’s eyes, we didn’t just understand their frustration, we became curious about how to fix it. That curiosity led to action, and that action rebuilt trust.

So the next time you feel frustrated managing expectations, pause and ask:
“What might this look like from their point of view?”

You may be surprised by what you discover.