In every Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship course empathy is stressed as a necessary tool (and practice) one needs to be an effective changemaker.

By the end of my Social Innovation & Social Entrepreneurship Introduction course I could recite the definition of empathy backwards and forwards, but putting it into practice required a significant amount of self-reflection. Once I started to actively practice empathy I found myself more frequently sympathizing with someone rather than actually empathizing.  Although sympathy isn’t inherently negative, Brene Brown compellingly explains why empathy is a more powerful way to actively listen. Watch the video below to learn more about empathy, and how sympathy can be counter productive to social innovation.