When Plato wrote the Republic in ~375 BC in the form of a Socratic

dialogue, Prudence, Courage, Temperance and Justice formed the framework for which became known as the cardinal virtues in Christian theology during the 3rd Century AD. Many years later in 1911,the New York Public Librarywas dedicated and adornedwith two marble lions whichgaze upon Fifth Avenuebetween 41st & 42nd Street. Yet it was not until the 1930’sthat NYC Mayor FiorelloLaGuardia bestowed names forthese lions after the virtues ofPatience and Fortitude,representing the qualities thatNew Yorkers would need tosurvive the Great Depression. In her 2018 book,“Leadership in Turbulent Times”,Doris Kearns Goodwin shines alight on empathy as an attributeshared by Abraham Lincoln,Teddy Roosevelt and FDR, eachof whom navigated the UnitedStates at moments in historythat not only defined them asleaders, but also to this daywhat it means to be anAmerican and indeed globalcitizen. Although FDR’s firesidechats were only conducted 30times during his presidency from1933 - 1944, the mere

acknowledgment that peopleneeded facts, information and amore intimate connection withthe president himself during acrisis, and even FDR’sintentional use of commonlanguage and vocabulary so thatnothing would be lost intranslation, is an historic andtimely example of empathy. It is apropos that we call uponthese ancient virtues in thesemodern times as we bravely facethe multi-faceted 21st Centurychallenge of this generation,COVID-19. Empathy has aseemingly simple definition, yetwhen exercised consistentlybetween people, communitiesand nations, has a powerful andtransformational effect and playsa special role among the cardinal

virtues, one that has guided me personally and professionallythroughout my life. Metaphorically, empathy isakin to the mortar which bindsbricks and stone in so manyof our structures, as it holds

the other virtues together and thereby provides an inherentstrength to the whole, withoutdrawing attention to itself.Conversely, the absence ofempathy in our lives is aspalpable as a wall withoutmortar, far less resilient amidstthe challenges that the winds of

life will bring and without a binding element that holds uscloser together and stronger asa result. In the context of thatwhich we create from industry,services, technology and realestate, empathy is a keystone toa product’s societal relevance,commercial viability and evenmarketing. Amidst the currentlandscape, empathy is also acompass that guides how we arenavigating prolonged physicalisolation, unprecedentedeconomic atrophy and theconfluence of theories on howwe will gradually return to a new normal of living, working and playing, without precipitating further and deeper hardships. Empathy is now so vital, along with the other virtues playing backup, because it is the understanding of, care and respect for others that will perpetuate tolerance forquarantine and social distance.Therefore we must continue toexercise extraodinary patienceto preserve our collective healthand safety and rise above self-interest, impatience andintolerance for personalinconvenience. Empathy is also not restricted to humans as there is a body of science demonstrating that this attribute extends to various species in the animal kingdom, namely highly social animals

EmpathyThe Cardinal Virtue ofLeadership, Innovation & Real EstateBY: MICHAEL PATRICK DAVIDSONManaging Director, JPMorgan ChaseTRIUM Global Executive MBA, Class of 2012Fordham University, Class of 1994

May 18, 2020

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Empathy - The ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

Oxytocin, the love hormone, facilitates trust, bonding, wound healing and empathy.Rain - Bronze, By: Mariela Garibay, Peru

such as dogs, elephants, primates, dolphins and birds, each of which have been known to show compassion towards others. Dolphins, for example showcare for not only their ownspecies, but others as well andhave been known to rescueswimmers from sharks and guidestranded whales back to the sea.Studies indicate that oxytocin,also known as the love hormone,is the underlying mechanism forempathy and in one notableexperiment, Macaques refusedto pull a chain that deliveredfood to themselves if doing soalso caused a companion toreceive an electric shock. Thisinhibition of hurting another wasmore pronounced betweenfamiliar than unfamiliarmacaques, a finding similar tothat of empathy in humans.* At its heart, real estate is the most primal, expansive and diverse service industry that provides the home, workplace and venue for all other forms of human gathering. Starting from soil and harnessing the elements to conceive, design and construct, real estate delivers a myriad of basic

human needs to those that seek shelter to live, work, play, think, engage, innovate, collaborate, manufacture, learn, eat, heal and sleep. Whether corporate, residential, governmental, academic, medical, entertainment, arts or hospitality, real estate is driven first and foremost by a deepunderstanding of people thatform the tapestry of our globaland local communities. Realestate encompasses the ancientand modern wonders of theworld, symbols of our socialand professional cultures overtime, sources of inspiration,comfort and progress as a race.Pulsing through the heart of thereal estate industry and thatwhich has made all of thispossible from the very beginningis its lifeblood, empathy.

We return briefly to the metaphorof bricks and mortar, which isoften applied to the real estateindustry, for with empathy holdingthe foundation strong, that whichwe deliver and the ultimatemeasure of our success restson whether the architecturaland design environments thatwe create enable, empower andenergize the function of thosewho occupy, reside and thrive inthe spectrum of experiences wedeliver. The most celebrated realestate is often that which istimeless, demonstratesfunctional and aesthetic agilityand endures the tempo ofgenerational and technologicalchange, yet above all remainsrelevant to people and societyitself. No matter your role in thevast spectrum of real estate,one thing that we sharewhich is driven and informedby commercial necessity,experience and natural curiosity,is a focus on people - how theythink, feel, engage and relate toone another, whether juxtaposedin a soaring office tower, sharinga bucolic campus, attending aconference, strolling through

a museum or working acrossgeographies which span theworld. Empathy therefore is ourbedrock and when exercised withauthenticity, selflessness and agenuine interest towardunderstanding the needs andfeelings of others, the depth ofrelationships with those we servebecomes fueled by trust, candiddialogue and transparency,which are of course essentialbuilding-blocks of the strategies,designs and multi-facetedarchitectural and serviceexperiences we conceive. This also depends onour ability to think outside ofourselves, listen actively andquiet the internal dialogues thatwe carry, so that the voice ofthe people we serve and thosewith whom we collaborate areclearly heard without the filtersof opinion that can tend to cloud our understanding of what othersare truly trying to convey inthe moment, often while we’rethinking of what we will say next.

While a majority of themarketing and contentrelated to our careers andaccomplishments often highlightwhere we work and that whichwe achieved at moments intime through the years, therichest meaning behind ourachievements, lies in the lastingimpact we have on othersbeyond the letterhead, andwhether the product of our workis timeless, thereby reflecting adeeper human understanding ofthose we hope will thrive in ourspaces, all informed by empathy. Beyond the thrill of a completed building, space, design or integrated workplace

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“Pulsing through the heart of the real estate industry and that which

has made all of this possible from the very

beginning, is its lifeblood, empathy.” “Building a strong

team that is embedded in an empathetic

organizational culture is a differentiator in any

industry.”

Empathy was a pillar of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s leadership as a four-term US President. Photo Credit: Davidson - FDR Memorial, Washington, DC, 2012

The Science Explorer and American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2016.

experience, the true measureof our success in real estateis whether that which we havedelivered is truly aligned withthe needs and functions of thepeople in the companies andcommunities we serve. Whenempathy is shared as a corevirtue by a team of talented anddiverse professionals in anysetting or industry, the outcomesare more innovative, durableand thoughtfully executed, bothconsequent to the empathyfocused on those that will occupythe space or consume theproducts and services we deliver,as well as the empathy amidstthe team itself in listening andconsidering all points of viewthat are expressed along theway. Therefore, building a strongteam that is embedded in anempathetic organizational cultureis a differentiator in any industryand most certainly a vital aspectof delivering real estate thatreflects a culture and enablesthe continued transformation ofthought, form and function of theprimary assets in any company,its people. Conversely among thedangers in real estate or anyservice industry, is when thestrategist, planner, broker ordesigner to name a few, becomeso enamored and “wedded” tothat which they are creatingfor a client that their thinkingat some point in the processironically becomes bifurcatedfrom the active listening andengagement that are vital toremain agile as therequirements evolve. In thesecases, we may find ourselvesdefending the framework for adeal, plan or design that whilewell-aligned at the start of aprocess, may indeed requireaugmentation to remain relevantas the client’s thinking evolvesand at the time of execution.Empathy in these cases is not atemporal virtue but one thatmust be consistent and everpresent and from a broader

perspective, no different from any relationship wherebythe customary heightened levelsof empathy and attentivenessat the beginning should besustained to preserve the healthof the love and connection thatpeople share, well beyond thehoneymoon. In a 2018 interview Microsoft’sCEO Satya Nadella stated thatin addition to confidence, a CEOmust have empathy. In Nadella’sview, empathy is, among otherthings, a key source of businessinnovation. He said that althoughmany regard it as a “soft skill,”not especially relevant to the“hard work of business,” it is awellspring for innovation, sinceinnovation comes from one’sability to grasp customers’unmet, unarticulated needs.Interestingly, Nadella attributeshis appreciation of empathy tohis experience having a child withspecial needs, as his son Zainwas born with cerebral palsy. I suppose that a major reasonI have nurtured a life-longrespect for empathy, is that my

mother is epileptic. Throughout childhood, I witnessed grand malseizures at close-range whicharose without notice and werejarring experiences, especiallythrough the eyes of a little boywatching his mother, followed bythe swift response by family whohad learned this drill though theyears and the full day afterward itwould take for her to recoverafter a long sleep. Likewise, herdependence on medications tostabilize and contain thefrequency of these events, taughtme lessons on empathy veryearly in my life. From another perspective,my family owned and operated

a beloved Irish tavern in ourcommunity that happenedto have an aspirationalculinary menu in very humblesurroundings. I worked for yearsalongside my family well beforemost of my friends had jobs inhigh school and as such, I wasimmersed in hospitality as wecared for our customers whowere drinking, eating, laughing,lamenting, celebrating, sharingstories and creating memories,all in our small space comprisedof a full bar, tiny kitchen andfifteen tables. While our spacewas compact, basic, often quitecrowded and smoky in thosedays, it was filled with heart,empathy and the authenticityof my family. All people werewelcome in our tavern andas such, every race, religion,class, demographic and sexualorientation communed side-by-side, naturally and harmoniously. As I reflect on my career in real estate, I credit my family and these early experiencesengaging and serving all

people as equals, as another reason why empathy was instilled so early in my life in such a formative way. In fact, when my career in real estate began in 1994, just two months after my undergraduate commencement, I was still doing night and weekend shifts, waitering and bartending for extra money to pay-off my collegeloans. As we now reflect on thepast four months of 2020,our industry and society hasbeen rapidly immersed in this all-encompassing pandemic while so many corporate, retail, shopping, dining and entertainment spacesthat we thoughtfully designedand delivered for decades, havebeen primarily vacant. This hasspawned numerous theories on

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“Empathy guides us to consider the bigger picture, beyond our own feelings and circumstances.”

“Like any tool, the power and effectiveness of empathy depends on

one’s ability to use other tools in parallel.”

Empathy has been proven to extend across the animal kingdom.Photo Credit: Davidson - Tibetan Macaques, Sichuan Province, China, 2019

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how we will return to society, the workplace and each other. Further, we wonder whether thelasting effects of this crisis willchange the very nature of howwe develop, occupy and use realestate and whether vacancy inits many forms, will dominatethe landscape far beyond themoment that we find treatmentsand a vaccine for COVID-19.There is so much vital energy andwonderful thinking being fueledwith uncertainty and emotionwhile we persevere this altogetherunfamiliar isolation, that this is agreat time to focus, exercise andlean-into our capacity for empathyas we think of what others areenduring and avoid becoming lostin the fog of personal despair ordiscouragement, all as a matter ofpracticality, ethics and survival. From a real estate perspective,the single most important aspectof this crisis remains the physicalsafety and wellness of the peoplewith whom we collaborate inour industry and those tenantsand occupants that we serveacross diverse locations andglobal portfolios. Through thislens we witnessed the exodus toquarantine across Asia Pacific,

EMEA and the Americas, asspaces were suddenly empty andretail was uncharacteristicallydormant. As we nowpainstakingly and patientlynavigate the re-opening andreturn, we find that it is far morecomplicated and requires carefullocal planning and executionand that one size does not fit alllocations, people and industries.Empathy once again is the toolwe summon from the toolbox aswe consider what it means toinvite people back to an office,workplace or any venue and thejourney they must make in theprocess, familial commitmentsand mental readiness to re-entersociety and proximity with thepublic, the very thing that we havebeen encouraged to avoid for thepast few months. Like any tool, the power andeffectiveness of empathy dependson one’s ability to use othertools in parallel. Judgment anddiscernment are vital to ensurethat empathy does not becomea weakness and just as a lovingparent must use discipline toteach and mold a child, or acarpenter uses a myriad of toolsto construct, so we must ensure

that our empathy is well-informedand tempered by our intuition,context and appropriate to thebroader dynamics that are past,present and unfolding before us. Empathy guides us to considerthe bigger picture, beyond ourown feelings and circumstances,especially in recent days as wereflect on our first-responders,healthcare providers, scientists,primary school educators,grocery store workers, utility andsanitation workers (to name afew), all of whom are bearingenormous pain on behalf ofothers and are our modern dayheroes. From the even broaderperspective of history and theglobal landscape of 2020, werealize that despite the travailsand losses we are enduring,we are still fortunate in so manyways. Even when we consider thespectrum of human belief, faithand spirituality and upon anobjective reading of the sourcetexts and philosophies, we findthat empathy, along with the othervirtues mentioned earlier, isin its own way core to Islam,Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism,Hinduism, Sikhism, Shintoism,as well as Agnostic and Atheistbeliefs which, although notnecessarily from a divine source,share empathy as an aspirationalethical principle. The historical pitfall thatcontinues to plague humanitytoday, is that judgments areformed on a given faith, basednot on the core of the belief itselfand its tenets, nor on the heartand soul of the person, but ratheron extremist points of view andbehaviors which unfortunatelydominate headlines and mediacoverage. Yet empathy guidesus to consider others first andforemost through the lens ofthe individual and that whichwe share, rather than leaping tobinary hyperboles fueled by afocus on ideological differencesand over-generalizations, which

are unfair and inaccurate. Although I was raised Catholic, Iwould not want to be judgedbased on the crusades or holywars of the 11th - 12th centuriesor on the actions of those thatevangelize extremist prejudicedviews of others or commitcrimes, simply because they arealso followers of Christianity.Armed with empathy, kindredspirits are revealed across thediverse spiritual and ethnicpanorama of humanity. At ourcore, we share an inherentdesire to connect, understandand trust one another whichthereby energizes our oxytocinlevels while suppressing stresshormones, all of which facilitatesshort-term harmony and long-term physical and mental health. People have a spectrum ofcoping mechanisms and oneof my favorites when darknessdescends, is counting myblessings - literally, which ifdone diligently and thoroughlyrequires quite a bit of time,especially if written and you thengaze at the list before you withpure gratitude for the contentand reminder. Empathy is anoffspring of gratitude, just ascompassion is an offspring ofempathy. When we embracethese seminal aspects ofourselves, we are then able tohonor those around us with farmore agility, acknowledge andshare that which they areexperiencing, lift ourselves fromour own personal pain of themoment, and find the strengthand resolve to contribute to thepath forward for us, and them. The underlying message isthat where there is empathy,there is hope, where there isempathy, there is community,where there is empathy there isa deeper understanding of thosewe encounter on this journey,those we serve in our vocationsand those we love in our lives.

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Sharing time, space and a story with friends in a rural homestead.Photo Credit: Davidson - Swaziland, 2016