At 20 months and 106 pounds, Marcel is almost full grown.
He’s maturing into a responsible adult dog. For example, he constantly monitors his surroundings, looking for signs of activity that may affect him.
He knows that my tennis shoes and flats signal walk time; high heels mean continued naps at home.
Marcel’s power of observation extends to other people as well. Wherever we’re walking, he seems to know intuitively which children and adults will want to meet him. He’ll stop and wait for them to pet him.
Equally impressive, he manages his energy well, adjusting his behavior based on the current heat index and staying focused on his priorities. He adheres to unofficial dog code of conduct, “If you can’t eat it, play with it or pee on it, leave it alone.”
Marcel is more than my canine companion. He’s also my mentor, showing me how to practice bio-empathy.
What Bio-Empathy Is And Why It’s Important For Leaders
As defined by futurist and author Bob Johansen, bio-empathy is the “ability to see things from nature’s point of view; to understand, respect, and learn from its patterns.”
In Johansen’s best-selling book, Leaders Make the Future: Ten New Leadership Skills for an Uncertain World, bio-empathy is skill No. 5. He maintains that biologists (or even biology majors) and those who live with dogs find it easiest to grasp the importance of this leadership skill.
Bio-empathy is especially valuable today because biology and the life sciences are shaping business actions. Nature is displacing engineering as an economic global driver, according to Johansen’s forecasts.
For instance, consider biotechnology companies versus pharmaceutical companies. Both make medicine. However, biotechs use live organisms, such as bacteria or enzymes in their products, while pharmaceuticals rely on chemicals.
Another example is the “farm to fork” movement for food versus goods found in the big box stores. The former emphasizes fresh natural produce, dairy and meats instead of processed, modified and heavily packaged food. Consumers trade quality and flavor for low cost and convenience.
Practicing bio-empathy can also help leaders make better sense of our VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world. Understanding and respecting nature can both ground you in the present, as well as draw your attention to the bigger picture and patterns.
For example, when you’re in tune with nature, you can better appreciate how all living things – that is, the ecosystem in which we live – are interconnected. An action in one area can have unintended consequences elsewhere, and present dilemmas that are important to address.
Consider what’s happening in the 347-year-old city of Charleston, S.C. In the three-and-a-half years I’ve lived here, we’re experiencing more "sunny day flooding." Climate experts attribute the rise in the sea level to increasing temperatures over the past 100 years, mostly due to more carbon emissions from fossil fuels.
But it’s not just the high tides during full and new moons that contribute to this tidal flooding. It’s also the increasing amount of pavement in this fast-growing popular tourist town and burgeoning tech hub.
During rainstorms, the water can’t soak as easily into the earth, so it pools in low-lying streets and sidewalks. When the water does run off, it can carry pollutants into the Ashley and Cooper Rivers, which are at the tip of the Charleston peninsula.
Individuals in Charleston and elsewhere who practice bio-empathy see the interconnectedness and recognize that humans have a responsibility to help the ecosystem stay in balance in our communities and in our organizations.
Having more highly developed brains than dogs and other animals, humans can better deal with both the challenges and opportunities of nature. This entails taking a range of actions, limited primarily by our imagination, such as designing new sea walls, recycling resources and collaborating with the usual suspects, as well as new partners, in innovative ways.
What You Can Do To Practice Bio-Empathy
If you’re interested in developing your bio-empathy as a leader, you can start by taking these actions:
- Spend quality time with a dog. Note how dogs live in the present, intently observing their surroundings and paying close attention to how other dogs and people respond. Dogs may actually be as empathetic as their human caretakers think they are. Recent research, as reported by the Greater Good Magazine, supports the hypothesis that dogs detect emotions in people and other dogs, and can tell the difference between positive and negative feelings.
- Go on a trip/tour that’s nature-based. Or, if that’s not immediately possible, spend time at least once a week walking in nature and using all of your senses. Nature teaches us about innovation, resilience, systems, design and the cycle of life. You’ll also experience firsthand how nature is always changing and evolving; nature does not stand still.
- Start using more using organic rather than mechanical language. For example, use nature-based metaphors, not engineering ones. In other words, avoid references to “building a foundation.” Instead, talk about “cultivating the soil.” When you start being more mindful about the language you use, you sow seeds for growing a new mindset and accompanying behaviors. This is what the psychologists call “priming.”
As you develop your skills, you’ll discover that bio-empathic leaders are a special breed. These leaders don’t take but give back instead. They help nurture their organizations and the larger ecosystem, making contributions of all sizes to keep nature healthy and sustainable.
