Empathy Should Be a Presidential Prerequisite

Here at Mobility Labs, we root for the good guys and gals. We aspire to live in a world that offers fair and equal opportunity to everyone, regardless of their skin tone, gender, or choice in Netflix series, among many other things. Usually, when it comes to political stuff we keep to ourselves. What astonished us more than anything else about the 2016 election was that someone who exhibited zero empathy for others' wellbeing managed to recruit such a large and passionate following.

Decades ago, Swiss developmental psychologist Jean Piaget postulated that humans usually develop empathy for others around 7 years of age. Studies since then have shown that babies as young as nine months old show empathy by offering caring gestures while witnessing another baby cry. Empathy is the ability to see yourself in someone else's shoes, sincerely.

Because of the Goldwater Rule, psychologists are discouraged from publicly diagnosing individuals without face-to-face consultation. However, some mental health professionals have weighed in on the importance of empathy in public life and the consequences of its absence in leadership.

Empathy is not a soft skill. It’s what lets you build something that actually works for people whose lives look nothing like yours. We see it in our own work every day — the projects that turn out well are the ones where we took the time to understand the people using the thing, not just the people paying for it.