Self-Awareness - Lisa D. Foster, Leadership Coaching & Training

Why Some People Struggle with Empathy | My Gratitude Project Day 24

November 24, 2025

When an office has a difficult employee, leaders come to me asking why some people lack empathy. It is common to believe that some people simply lack empathy. I understand why some people believe this, even though every human brain (and many animal brains) have mirror neurons in our brains that hardwire us for empathy. So, why do some people seem incapable of understanding others? I’m not qualified to discuss the effects on empathy of neurodiversity conditions like autism, narcissism…

Cognitive Bias and Empathy: Seeing the World Clearly | My Gratitude Project Day 15

What gets in the way of empathy and change? Mostly it’s what psychologists call cognitive bias. Cognitive biases are unconscious and irrational brain processes that literally distort the way we see the world. Psychologists have identified over 180 cognitive biases that skew how we perceive and remember events in the past and influence how hard we are willing to try or resist change in the future. Here are a few of the biases that come up a lot at work:…