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Humanity in Business: The Superpower of Organizational Growth
National Geographic Explorer and Human Connection Expert Chris Bashinelli shares a guide to fostering empathy in business, cultivating inclusive company culture, and how to find meaning in everyday interactions.
How long does it take to recognize another person’s humanity — our client, our spouse, our co-worker, a taxi driver, or someone we may only meet once in our entire life? In my experience, traveling to 40 countries as a National Geographic Explorer — living with nomads in Mongolia, farming with mystics in East Africa and Sumo wrestling Japan’s heaviest human being of all time — connection happens in one moment. That moment is perhaps the single most important moment to grow our business, to strengthen our company culture and to create a life of meaning.
“Humanity” is defined as “the state of being human.” This state, our natural state, is the single most unifying quality of our being. No matter our race, religion, creed, socio-economic background, skin color, title, or gender identity — we are all, at the end of the day, human beings. And every single human being within our company, from the janitor, to the CEO, has a unique life experience, an irreplaceable perspective through which they view the world. When an employee feels safe to be themselves, we can harness the power of their diverse life experience and their unique perspective. When they don’t feel safe, we leave immeasurable untapped potential on the table.
It’s critical to remember that none of this happens by default. Team members do not bring their best selves to work because their boss tells them to or because it says so in the company by-laws. Clients do not buy from us because we say the right thing or use “words of influence.” Instead, we must live our lives from place of genuine empathy, where we serve the client above all else, even above our own self-interest. When we operate from this place of true empathy, it creates a vacuum into which our self importance disappears and through which we become a vehicle for a mission greater than ourselves. The potential that is born when we live our lives from a place of true human connection is limitless, and the cost for not doing so is devastating.
So how do we build true connection with our clients, staff, and neighbors? How do we recognize our shared humanity? The path of true connection is so simple, it may stop us in our tracks. All we have to do is to stop, look, and listen for one moment, and it can be almost anything, where someone shares something we have had a direct experience of ourselves. In that moment, we will feel a shift within our being, a shift from self-interest to empathy. In that moment we will begin to feel, on a core level, “this person is a human being, just like me.”
Human Connection Action Items:
Eye Contact
When we listen to others in conversation, do our best to look the other person in the eyes. The purpose of eye contact is not to “influence” or manipulate the other person, but rather, to look beyond their physical being and into their humanity.
Listen
When someone shares something with you, and you feel the urge to speak, instead say, “tell me more.” In the words of Larry King, “I never learned anything while I was talking.”
Awareness
The next time someone shares something that you have had an experience of yourself — perhaps they share a similar passion as you, have a child with a learning disability, or a parent fighting an illness — notice how you feel. Eventually, when someone shares something that resonates deeply enough with you, you will notice a shift in your being and in your body. This shift that takes place is the beginning of the path to true human connection. In this moment, we begin to see the person not as one of “them”, but one of “us.” The other person will sense it — and will naturally feel safe with us. We will also notice that this simple act of connection, of serving others, creates a feeling of lasting joy and peace — the key to living a life of meaning.
It is critical that we do not see this path as a tool for influence, which is code for “getting people to do what we want.” Rather we must see the path of human connection as a state of being, by which our very presence inspires others. When we genuinely care about the other person, they will be able to sense, on a core level, that we have their best interest in mind. People will naturally be drawn to us, they will want to be around us, to get to know us, and we will have wealth – in the true sense of the word. People do business with people they trust, and to trust, means to know someone has our best interest in mind. If we truly walk the path of human connection, recognizing the humanity in every person we meet, we won’t be driven solely by the bottom line — but to serve others. Funny enough, this is when our business truly grows and our life takes on a meaning that is greater than ourselves.
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