The Empathy Advantage: A Fireside Chat with Maria Ross

Summary

Empathy is a powerful leadership and marketing tool that can drive long-term success by fostering deeper relationships, building customer loyalty, and transforming business culture. Read on for highlights from our recent talk with acclaimed brand strategist, speaker and author, Maria Ross.

By Sheena McKinney, Business Operations & Marketing Assistant at Heinz Marketing

Maria Ross, author of The Empathy Edge, hit a nerve (in the best way) discussing the strategic advantage empathy brings to leadership and brand building in today’s post-evolving workplace. During our recent Inner Circle, she shared insights from her latest book, The Empathy Dilemma, focusing on the pressures leaders face balancing performance, people, and person boundaries, especially in a post-pandemic world.

Here are a few highlights:

1. Empathy vs. Sympathy: Maria made a compelling distinction—sympathy can feel pitying, while empathy is about understanding and acting with compassion. It’s about truly seeing and hearing someone from their perspective, not just “walking in their shoes,” (which is still your interpretation).
2. New Leadership Challenges: Leaders today are navigating a rapidly changing work environment, struggling with outdated paradigms. Empathy is key to leading teams through this “adolescent” phase of growth, despite it being painful and uncertain.
3. Empathy in Marketing: Consumers crave empathy from brands. Maria shared stats that back this up—86% of people want brands to demonstrate empathy through their behavior, and 97% of customers have positive engagement with brands when they feel understood, even if their issue wasn’t fully resolved.
4. Building Relationships, Not Metrics: In sales, empathy means playing the long game. Instead of focusing on quick wins, Maria emphasized building meaningful relationships that last beyond a single transaction, leading to long-term customer loyalty.
5. Empathy is Strength, Not Weakness: Contrary to old beliefs, empathy isn’t a sign of weakness. Maria argued that it requires confidence and self-awareness to be empathetic while maintaining clear boundaries and expectations. It’s about showing strength through curiosity and understanding.

Empathy is a competitive edge that can elevate your leadership and brand in today’s marketplace.

We support our clients’ ongoing work in demand generation and revenue responsible marketing by hosting our Heinz Marketing Inner Circle each month connecting you with today’s top B2B minds, innovators, authors, and more.  Let us know if you want to join us next time.

What to Expect:

• A deep dive into trending topics in B2B
• Engaging discussions with industry leaders
• Networking opportunities with peers
• Transparent and collaborative conversations
• Camera or no-camera Zoom Meeting
• No recordings – “must be present to win”
• Zoom/calendar link so you never miss out 

Next Heinz Marketing Inner Circle session:

November 13, 2024 – 11:00 am PT | 12:00 pm MT | 1:00 pm CT | 2:00 pm ET.
Ernest Owusu, Head of Sales Development Transformation at 6sense

Want to know how to become a client and join the Inner Circle, reach out for a free brainstorm call.