Becoming Fully Human in Business: Insights from Edith Stein

Agnes Sopel
6 hours ago
9 min read

In many areas of business life, such as high-stakes negotiations, performance reviews and ambitious growth plans, our humanity tends to recede into the background. We discuss ROI, KPIs, workflows, balance sheets, and efficiency. But what if beneath all that is a deeper question: How do we remain human in a world that often treats people as means to ends?

Edith Stein, the philosopher who explored empathy, personhood, freedom and moral life, offers a rich resource for answering that question.

Stein’s work isn’t about idealism detached from reality. Her reflections reach into the very way we perceive others, make decisions, respond to values and live with responsibility in concrete situations. Translating her thought into business life means learning how to be present to others, how to let truth shape you, how to live with freedom and integrity, and how morality and ethics become not a burden, but a kind of flourishing.

Empathy: entering the other’s world without losing yourself

In her early work On the Problem of Empathy, she asks: how do I grasp the inner, lived experience of another person? How do I “see” their joys, their sorrows, their motivations, their fears, not by projection, not by simulation, but by a genuine, other-directed act of consciousness?

Stein argues that empathy is not mere feeling. It is not that I merge with the other, or that I imagine myself into their shoes completely. Rather, I remain myself, and yet I am open to their world. Empathy is a three-step process, always preserving a distinction between self and other:

The appearance: I perceive the other’s expression, gesture, tone, posture, etc. I see the face, the body, the way they speak. That perception is not inert; it is already expressive. I perceive their emotional state in their comportment.
The re-enactment/explication: I allow that appearance to resonate within me, trying (disciplined, gently) to “relive” or retrace (not copy) their inner experience. I may ask: “What might it feel like to be in their situation?”
The objectifying reflection: I step back with conceptual clarity and identify the experience: sadness, frustration, hesitation, hope, strain, and relate that to their motives, their values, their life. In this step, I hold it as an intentional object of thought, while always aware that it is their experience, not mine.

Stein insists that empathy is not about emotional contagion or sympathy (feeling with). Sympathy and compassion may follow from empathy, but empathy is prior: it receives the other’s experience without blurring boundaries. You do not lose yourself; you extend your self.

From Stein’s perspective, our personhood is relational. We become ourselves through encounters with others. Empathy is the mode by which we “constitute” the other, and in that process also clarify ourselves. To empathise is to allow yourself to be touched by another’s reality, to be transformed by their presence, and yet remain a distinct self.

In a business context, what does this mean? It means that when a colleague is upset, demotivated or anxious, your first approach is not to fix, evaluate or dismiss. You attend to their posture, tone and hesitation. You let yourself dwell on their experience. You might silently ask: What is this experience for them? What worries lie behind? What values feel compromised? Only then do you move to interpreting, dialoguing or acting, but from closer understanding, not aloof strategy.

Empathy like this is a moral stance. It prevents reducing people to roles or metrics. It invites dignity. Over time, it builds trust, and it opens the space for authentic communication. In business, that means fewer hidden resentments, more alignment, deeper loyalty and a working environment where people feel seen, heard and known.

Freedom and Truth: the inner ground from which ethics emerge

Empathy gives us access to the lived world of others; freedom and truth orient us to our own inner ground. Edith Stein sees human beings as more than bundles of impulses or functions. We are spiritual, with an inner depth of consciousness open to truth and demanding freedom.

Freedom, in Stein’s view, is not license to do whatever we want. It is the capacity to choose in awareness of values, to align our will with what is true, good and real. Because we are not purely deterministic creatures, we have the capacity to respond, to assent, to resist, to commit. Stein defends the dignity and integrity of that choice.

Truth for Stein is not just factual correctness. It is what discloses reality, especially the reality of persons, values and moral good. A person who has grown in truth is someone whose inner life is open to seeing things as they are, honest about their own flaws, and grounded in clarity about what matters. Stein’s later metaphysical and philosophical anthropology integrates the idea that our essence, our being, is aligned with truth and value.

These two—freedom and truth—give us a foundation for responsibility. If we are free to choose and capable of perceiving truth, then we are accountable for the direction of our lives and choices. Responsibility is not external coercion; it is inner ownership. It means: I own what I do, I own the consequences, I must respond to the demands of the good and the real.

Ethics, in Stein’s view, is not a set of rules imposed from without but a formation of the inner person, so that our choices flow from truth, from empathy, from love of the other. The moral good is not a burden but what makes us more fully human.

The benefits of being “good human” at work: moral, relational, and organisational flourishing

Why is all this relevant in business? Because morality and ethics done well do not weaken performance, they strengthen it, in ways both tangible and subtle. Here are the kinds of benefits that emerge when people lead and act from a foundation like Stein’s:

Trust and psychological safety: When people feel seen, respected and that their inner life matters, they speak up, own their mistakes, innovate and support each other. A culture of empathy reduces fear and hidden resentments.
Sustainable commitment: People stay longer in organisations where they feel their humanity is respected. They are not mere cogs but contributors.
Better decisions: When leaders pause and weigh not only profit margins but also human consequences, they avoid short-term gains that produce long-term costs, like burnout, turnover, reputational blowback and compliance failure.
Resilience in crisis: In adversity, a community grounded in empathy and moral integrity weathers storms. People rally around a leader who has shown that they care, that they stand by values and that they see people beyond their function.
Meaning and fulfilment: For the individual, living in harmony with one’s conscience, experiencing connection rather than alienation, seeing work as part of a larger human good, these bring deep satisfaction, not just career advancement.

One might recall real-world examples where ethical and human-centred leadership pierced through difficulty. Consider Patagonia, whose leadership often frames business in terms of environmental responsibility and deep respect for employees. That orientation attracts employees who share values, and helps the company navigate tensions because people believe in the mission. Or contrast cases where companies ignore culture and burn through talent despite reports showing how culture failures implode brands.

Also, look at how leaders in times of crisis, say, CEOs during economic downturns, who communicate from vulnerability, who own mistakes, who show care for employees (rather than hiding behind spreadsheets), often gain more loyalty and rebound better. That is empathy in action, meeting responsible truth and accountability.

In short, moral and ethical grounding is not a luxury or decorative add-on. It is a strategic asset, a relational substrate, and a source of enduring fulfilment.

How to live Stein’s teaching day to day in business life (a sketch of practices and orientation)

Philosophy is beautiful, but what does it take to weave it into everyday life? Below is a sketch of how one might begin to embody Stein’s insight in the rhythms of work, decisions and relationships.

Begin with interior formation.

Set aside moments of quiet reflection or journaling. Look inward on your motivations, your priorities, your assumptions.
Practice noticing emotional resonance when you meet people. Start by noticing your bodily attunements: tension, openness, fatigue. These “common feelings” (as Stein calls them) are part of your being’s climate.
Ask: What is tugging at me? What value is being stirred?

Adopt a posture of attentiveness in encounters.

In meetings or conversations, slow down. Let yourself absorb not just words but expressions, moods, silences.
When someone speaks, resist jumping immediately to solutions. Let the experience of the other “linger” in you.
After listening, reflect on what you perceive: “I sense you are feeling pressure right now. Would you be willing to tell me more about what’s underneath that?”

Anchor decisions in empathy + truth + responsibility.

Before big decisions (team structure, layoffs, resource allocations), pause to imagine how multiple stakeholders will experience it. Not in abstract, but in their life context.
Ask: Does this align with what we said we stood for?
When trade-offs hit, choose not just on efficiency, but on integrative values, fairness, dignity and long-term trust.

Cultivate a culture of relational honesty and vulnerability.

Be willing to share your own mistakes, your uncertainties. Those models that moral life is not perfection but integrity.
Reward not just outcomes, but the way outcomes are achieved, honesty, respect, courageous speaking and solidarity.
Build rituals of listening: feedback forums, “walk-and-talks,” conversational spaces where people share not only data but human stories.

Responsibility as a daily disposition.

When things go wrong, resist blame-shifting. Own your share.
Seek to repair relational harm. Apologies aren’t weak; they are relational mending.
Choose consistency: let your internal alignment speak through your external choices.

Grow slowly, steadily, forgivingly.

These are habits; they don’t form overnight.
You’ll slip, fail and feel hypocritical sometimes. That’s unavoidable. What matters is returning, recommitting and learning.
Surround yourself with moral companions, colleagues, mentors and friends who hold you accountable and support your growth.

What does it mean to be fulfilled, deeply human, in Stein’s picture—and in business life?

For Edith Stein, human fulfilment is not about accumulating power or escaping struggle. It is about becoming a person in truth, in a relationship, in responsibility. Her vision is that each human is a distinct centre of experience, open to value, called toward moral growth, and capable of mutual encounter.

To be fulfilled means:

You grow in self-knowledge: you see your strengths and weaknesses, your patterns, your inner distortions.
You grow in empathic capacity: you don’t blur boundaries, but you increasingly understand others’ worlds.
You live in greater consistency: your inner values and your outer actions align more and more.
You embody responsible freedom: your choices bear fruit not only for yourself but for others in your community or organisation.
You experience meaning: you see your work not just as a transaction but as part of a moral weave of service, creativity, care and purpose.

In business life, these translate into someone who does not experience alienation from their work, but coherence. Someone who sees colleagues not as instruments, but as fellow persons. Someone who perceives profit, growth, and innovation not as ends in themselves, but as means for human betterment.

The paradox is that when one leads this way, success often follows, but of a richer kind: depth, resilience, trust, legacy. People will follow you, not because they have to, but because they want to. Organisations built on such foundations tend to be healthier in the long run.

A brief example to illustrate how this plays out

Let’s imagine a mid-sized tech company, NovaTech, going through a painful restructuring. The CEO, Mara, must reduce costs, reorganise teams, and in the process, some people will lose roles. Many in the leadership class see this as a purely technical challenge. Mara decides instead to approach it differently.

Before announcing restructurings, Mara and her leadership team hold a “stakeholder empathy session.” They invite representatives from every department to speak: a software engineer in burnout, a project manager facing unrealistic deadlines, a junior designer feeling unseen, and a client support team worried about morale. Instead of leaping to financial metrics, the leadership listens. They sense the emotional climate: fear, uncertainty, shame, pressure. They let those voices shape their decisions.

They reframe the cost-cutting plan. Instead of abrupt layoffs, they offer internal mobility, phased transitions, more generous support, retraining, and open communication. They acknowledge openly in a company town hall: “We messed up in prior cycles; we didn’t listen to your experience. This time, we own it. We commit to doing this with respect and care, knowing it won’t be easy.”

Some will say it costs more in the short term. But over the next year, turnover is lower than the benchmark, those who remain express higher loyalty, innovation continues, and the company brand improves. People tell stories: “I stayed because I felt seen.” The trust buffer allowed teams to stretch, pivot, and carry the company forward.

This is not utopian. Hard trade-offs remain. But the difference is: decisions are not cold, but human. People are not mere cost centres, but persons. Integrity is woven into strategy.

Challenges and cautions

Of course, real life resists idealisation. Some cautions and obstacles:

Empathy can be misused (to manipulate). That’s why ethical formation is needed.
Over-empathising without boundaries can lead to burnout or blurred roles. You must preserve the self-other distinction.
Values conflict. Sometimes you must make decisions that will hurt some to preserve a greater integrity. Empathy does not resolve all trade-offs, but it helps you see them more clearly and choose more justly.
Moral failure will still happen. The test is honesty, repair, and resilience.

Conclusion

Edith Stein’s philosophy invites us to a deeper humanism in business. It asks us not merely to perform, but to be: to see, to feel, to choose, to respond. Empathy, freedom, truth, responsibility, they are not lofty abstractions, but daily tools for shaping a life of integrity, relational depth, and moral direction.

If you can begin by listening more deeply, treating others as persons and not means, anchoring decisions in what is true and just, owning your responsibility, and forming your inner life, you will begin to feel a shift.

Your leadership becomes less about command and more about presence. Your work becomes less transactional and more living. You become not just a better leader or manager, but a better human being.