Corporate communication, business communication, and organizational communication sort of cover all interaction between an entity and its stakeholders. The function may range from initiation, exchanging, engaging, and responding to the stakeholders of the corporate entity with an aim to manage (regular or crisis), organize (internal/external), brand (product/services or entity), market, etc. At the outset, Empathy does not seem viable in a fact-based, result-oriented, quantifiable corporate world. This is true if empathetic communication is attempted sporadically without the corporate imbibing it completely. Empathetic communication can be effective only in an environment already nurtured and fertilized with conducive components. Connectivity needs to have been built into the culture of the organization through regular input about everyone’s role and contribution towards the corporate entity’s goal and vision. Once we had a barrage of meetings scheduled which led to multiple invites in the inbox. However many times I tried I couldn’t enter into the meeting and by now every other member was getting antsy as the presentation was to be given by me. My colleague tried to help me through messages but I was already worked up and couldn’t comprehend his messages. He called and simply said, “I too faced it and so entered the meet late.” That calmed me down instantly. Then he proceeded to point out that our boss had sent two invites both with the same time but different dates and clicking on the invite with the later date was what was causing all the problem. When people sense vulnerability in others, they feel secure and relaxed which helps us to focus on solving the issues at hand. Today communication is not just giving or receiving but empathizing with the receiver if you are a giver and vice versa. We don’t simply blurt away instructions but make sure of the receiver’s absorption ability eg like by involving the team members at every stage of decision making and communicate the decision when the receiver is in the position to receive. Today communication is not just verbal instruction, or WhatsApp message or email! It is more about how effectively the receiver receives it. For example, while calling your teammate who works on the field often, it helps to know if they are in a position to have a conversation or would they like to call later. It not only makes sure that you have your teammate’s complete attention when he is talking to you but also makes him realize that you respect his work as much as mine. The moment there is security and trust, communication becomes clearer as coloring due to judgment, prejudices, or animosity disappears. All the strategy and training and mission/vision statements can only go so far. Ultimately it is the culture of the corporate entity which matters. The good thing is that the culture flows from top-down and so the key decision-makers can also double up as conscious change bringers Once I reached very late to a meeting for which my boss and my super boss had flown down from different countries. Though I was residing locally, I reached late by about three hours. Not only was I not berated, my team actually took efforts to make me comfortable and updated me on the happenings so far. A few months later we had another meeting and this time despite my many proactive efforts, my team member got about half an hour late. Though my first instinct was to deride her, I actually comforted her over the phone and helped her catch up during the meeting. A trusting and understanding culture begets a working culture that provides emotional security, tolerance, understanding, and mutual respect. In such an environment communication is more effective as there is empathy and trust that others empathize too. Be it the communication inside the organization, among the team members, be it the communication to the other stakeholders like vendors or shareholders or even to the public in general from the corporate entity, empathy helps in all cases. Eg In a crisis situation an online education provider resorted to aggressive silencing by pulling down criticisms or complaints from online platforms. This resulted in aggravating the situation into a legal battle which not only did the conglomerate lose but also face substantial damage to the brand image! On the other hand, during a crisis situation in an automotive manufacturing unit that arose due to a faulty automotive part in a batch of automobiles, the route taken was very different. Here the manufacturer acknowledged the problem faced by the customer and offers to replace it, not only is the blemish due to a faux pas, mitigated but the brand name is positioned as a relatable entity that is vulnerable to mistake and yet mature to learn from its mistake! Now imagine the scenario inside the company where this happened? The positivity garnered due to the company’s mature handling will reflect on the production team and they, in turn, will be asked to make a better QC procedure and learn from the mistakes. The employees who have been involved in design and production would feel morally and ethically motivated to make up for the loss that the company has faced and will work towards covering it! In the first case, the organization tried communicating a strong brand image without exactly empathizing with the customers or even the critics. In the second case, however, the organization communicated, having empathized with the customer. So the gain or loss of the brand image or rather the perception of the entity in the eye of the customer was achieved through communication. Let's step back here and think- are all components of entity A aggressive or are all components of entity B understanding? Aren’t they being perceived as each of them chose to communicate? Coming back to our question is organization an entity and communication merely a function or is Communication THE Organization?