Radical Empathy: The Counterintuitive Skill That Made Me Better at Everything Else (opens in new tab)

There's a moment in every intelligence officer's career when they realize something uncomfortable: to be effective at their job, they must genuinely connect with people whose values, beliefs, or actions they might find repugnant. Not pretend to connect. Not manipulate. Actually connect.This realization runs counter to everything we typically believe about empathy. We're taught that empathy flows naturally toward people we like, people who share our values, people who we think of as "good." Bu...