In the list of traits of successful entrepreneurs, perhaps the most omitted is empathy. Far from the touchy-feely-ness commonly associated with the word, empathy is defined as “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.”
An entrepreneur’s job, in my view, is to organize resources in the form of a business in order to create value for their customers. It’s crucial to empathize with your customers and employees, at the very least. Without empathy, you are doomed to create products and services that nobody wants with people who don’t want to create them.
100 Words of Fortitude 