The Power of Positive Empathy in the Workplace
This episode of The Bliss Business Podcast flips empathy around: instead of sharing someone's pain, positive empathy means sharing their joy. Hosts Stephen Sakach, Tullio Siragusa, and Ash Maher explore how celebrating others builds connection just as powerfully as comforting them does.
In this episode we explore:
• What positive empathy is, and why it's the overlooked half of emotional intelligence
• A simple question that unlocks real conversation: "what's one of your top 20 best days ever?"
• Why empathy is "the number one rule for new product innovation and success" (Nielsen)
• The research on why some people struggle to celebrate others
• How to build a "feel-good factory" through recognition systems
Stephen opens with a question he's used for a decade: outside of a marriage or the birth of a child, what's one of your top 20 best days ever? Tullio's answer, being asked to found a company after helping Facebook and YouTube monetize early traffic, and Ash's, a client's late-Friday call thanking him for his first real results, both land on the same point: being seen and celebrated changes how people show up to work the next day.
Tullio connects the dots to a deeper pattern: people who struggle to celebrate others are often struggling with their own sense of self-worth. "If you find yourself not being able to celebrate other people's successes and wins, check in with yourself," he says. "There might be something that you're judging yourself for."
The hosts back the concept with data: a Nielsen study of over 61,000 product launches found empathy was the top driver of new-product success, and a Korean healthcare study linked empathy directly to satisfaction and follow-through, a pattern the hosts argue applies just as well to employees as to patients.
The same instinct, celebrating a client's real wins instead of just reporting numbers, is part of how Zero Company builds long-term relationships with the businesses it works with.
Key Takeaways
• Stephen Sakach's go-to question: “outside of a marriage or the birth of a child, tell me about one of your top 20 best days ever,” a reliable way to unlock real conversation
• (9:39) Ash Maher cites Nielsen data from over 61,000 product launches: empathy is “the number one rule for new product innovation and success”
• (9:39) Ash: a Korean healthcare study found physician empathy directly improved patient satisfaction and treatment compliance, a pattern the hosts argue applies just as well to employees
• (14:37) Tullio Siragusa's own 10-year, 1,400-person research traces the struggle to celebrate others back to “the real world wide epidemic... of low self-worth”
• (17:38) Ash: fear of change is a major barrier, citing a LinkedIn survey where roughly a third of people say they'd avoid change if they could
FAQ
What is positive empathy?
Stephen Sakach describes it as the flip side of traditional empathy: instead of sharing someone's pain, positive empathy means actively sharing and celebrating their joy or success, not just acknowledging it.
What's the data on empathy and business performance?
Ash Maher cites a Nielsen analysis of over 61,000 product launches that found empathy was the top driver of new-product success, plus research linking empathetic leadership to stronger negotiation outcomes and senior executive performance.
Why do some people struggle to celebrate others' success?
Tullio Siragusa's own research (10 years, 1,400 people) traces it back to low self-worth: “if you find yourself not being able to celebrate other people's successes and wins, check in with yourself. There might be something you're judging yourself for.”
Continue the series: catch up on The Importance of Empathetic Leadership, or move on to The Work From Anywhere Debate, next in the sequence.
