On management: Shared pains build empathy

It is difficult to build empathy with someone without going through the same struggles.

 Think of two folks who always stick together over tight timelines, or wake up together for an incident at 3 am. They don't need to explain to each other why it's a bad idea to put a rushed change on production at 6 pm.

 To build strong empathy in the team, shadow your colleagues for a week, join them for a project, or even better… try what they do in your free time.