Maria Ross - The Empathy Edge

In todays crowded and noisy marketplace, humanity wins. Maria Rosss compelling book showsthrough research, case studies, and practical advicehow compassion and cultivating an empathetic mindset can help leaders and brands stand out.

Dorie Clark author of Stand Out and Reinventing You and adjunct professor at Duke Universitys Fuqua School of Business

Today, the products and services of Company A and Company B are often engineered and optimized until they are indistinguishable. But one differentiator remains: empathy. This is a wise, passionate, motivating book thats a must-read for every manager and executive.

Jay Baer founder of Convince & Convert and coauthor of Talk Triggers

Maria Ross shares hard-won lessons about the power of empathy from her experiences in the healthcare system and her years as a brand strategist to some of the top brands in the world to empower leaders and businesses of all kinds to treat their stakeholders with the compassion and care required to build customers for life. She provides practical steps for any organization to shift their cultural mindset in ways that will not only increase their productivity, retention, and financial success, but also improve their personal interactions. This book is exactly what we need right now to ensure our world is a lot more livable for all of us.

Denise Brosseau CEO of Thought Leadership Lab and bestselling author of Ready to Be a Thought Leader?

Relationships are critical to success and your greatest asset. To enable productive relationships with colleagues, subordinates, and customers, individuals must approach those connections with empathy and compassion. This book brings theory and action together in one powerful resource to help organizations create a connected culture and prioritize people to fuel success. Empathy is a concept that needs to be embraced in the workplaceand Maria Ross shows us exactly how to do it.

Michelle Tillis Lederman author of The Connectors Advantage and The11Laws of Likability

Maria Ross is the perfect person to impart this wisdom because shes an enthusiastic brand builder and her personal journey has been about giving and receiving life-affirming compassion. Not only does her book share insights about how empathetic leaders can drive outsized impact for their businesses, she engages the reader with her witty and heartwarming storytelling. This is one of those rare business books that is not just informative, but optimistic and enjoyable.

Megan Hanley CMO of Freedom Financial

Maria Ross brings practical, compelling insights to one of the key attributes we must all build and grow if we hope to thrive on this planet: empathy. Empathy is one of those roots that will ground your success in all aspects of your life. The ability to understand others perspectives gives us a design edge for our business, an understanding of differences that creates more powerful relationships, and a happiness factor that is priceless. Read this book if you want to level up in all parts of your life.

Vicki Saunders founder of She EO and #radicalgenerosity

Today, when top talent seeks not just a paycheck, but purpose and fulfillment at work, Maria Ross shows us that empathy is the foundation of thriving careers and cultures. Those organizations that figure it out will be the ones that succeed in the new economy, and those that dont will be increasingly irrelevantlosing talent, productivity, and market demand. This book goes beyond theory to lay out specific actions leaders can take to build the brands and cultures of the future.

Aaron Hurst cofounder and CEO of Imperative and bestselling author of The Purpose Economy

The workplace is now more diverse than ever before. Building a stronger culture starts by relating to each other, regardless of background, age, or life experience. Maria Ross shows that empathy can be your superpower if you want to achieve your goals. She gives you solid tips to help you build your emotional intelligence, and harness the power of diverse perspectives if you want your organization to thrive.

Chip Conley hospitality entrepreneur and New York Timesbestselling author

Maria Rosss insightful book couldnt have come at a better time. She shows why empathy is an intangible good that customers will happily pay for. The Empathy Edge is a wave worth riding.

Marty Neumeier author of The Brand Gap

The best marketers are able to articulate the compelling reason to purchase their products and services. Maria Ross has crystallized this idea and given it a voicetoday, empathy is the lens through which marketers can best understand what motivates their customer to choose their products over the competition.

Guy Weismantel CMO of Pushpay

Also by Maria Ross

Branding Basics for Small Business: How to Create an Irresistible Brand on Any Budget (2nd Edition)

Rebooting My Brain: How a Freak Aneurysm Reframed My Life

The Juicy Guides for entrepreneurs (mini-ebook series):

The Juicy Guide to Entrepreneurship: Advice on How to Energize Your Brand and Squeeze More Soul into Your Business

The Juicy Guide to Brand Building: Advice on How to Attract Loyal Fans and Amplify Your Message

The Juicy Guide to Time Management and Goal Setting: Advice on How to Wrangle Your Calendar and Slay Overwhelm

The Juicy Guide to Entrepreneurial Inspiration: Advice on How to Spark Your Creativity and Activate Your Inner Fire

For Callum,

here is my small but mighty attempt to make the world a better place for you, my love

If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other persons point of view and see things from that persons angle as well as your own.

Henry Ford

Empathy at Work

I have always believed that compassion, empathy, and kindness can be big assets in the business world. Throughout my career, I sought to rewrite the prevailing cultural script about business success: one could be compassionately competitive, kindly ambitious, and empathetic yet decisive. This mindset resulted in great success for me personally, as well as for my employers and clients.

I also believe that companies can make money while acting with kindness and empathy. The two are not mutually exclusive.

My understanding of the importance of empathy in business became much more personal in August 2008 when I awoke in a hospital ICU . My head was half-shaved and I had IV s in my arm. I was unable to see and had no short-term memory.

A few days earlier, I had been suffering from an intense headache and vomitingsymptoms that had plagued me for almost two months but, on that particular day, had left me unable to function. My husband had decided to leave work at midday, so, luckily, he was home when Id collapsed, unconscious, on our bathroom floor. At the age of thirty-fivein the healthy, vibrant prime of my lifeId experienced a ruptured brain aneurysm. An ambulance rushed me to the hospital, where emergency surgery saved my life.

I was in the hospital for six weeks, first in the neurological ICU and then in-patient rehab. The slow work of recovery began. The cerebral rupture was so severe that it caused hemorrhaging in my retinas, resulting in near blindness. Surgery in my left eye and more than ten months of recovery for my right eye eventually reversed the damage.

That time is mostly lost to me, save for a few snatches of memory here and there, like images remembered from a dream. Temporarily without my short-term memory, I didnt become fully aware of my surroundings until September, even though I was awake and talking to people.