Author of Applied Empathy and Constellation Thinking
Michael Ventura
Most of what matters at work is felt before it is understood. Empathy. Purpose. The sense that a room has turned before anyone has said so.
We tend to treat these as temperament, something a person either has or doesn't. I've spent two decades arguing otherwise, and building the methods that prove it. The capacities we call soft are learnable, teachable, and structural. They have simply gone unwritten.
That's the work. Two books, a stage, and a small number of people I sit with directly.
“Empathy without accountability is not just hollow, it's deceptive. It lulls people into false security. And it fractures the very trust it pretends to build.”
The Dark Side of Empathy The New York Times, Sunday Opinion, May 4, 2025
Author
Two books on empathy, purpose, and the disciplines underneath them. Plus an essay most weeks.
Speaker
Keynotes and workshops for audiences who want something they can use on Monday.
Advisor
A small practice with executives, board and advisory service, and organizational work through Equalls.
Explorer
The Explorers Club, Esalen, and a practice that sits alongside the rest of it.
Michael has worked with
Michael Ventura has built a career connecting the practical with the reflective. He is the author of Applied Empathy (Simon & Schuster, 2018) and the forthcoming Constellation Thinking (Authors Equity, 2027), which explore emotional intelligence, purpose, and systems thinking as cultivated practices for personal and professional growth.
During his nearly two decades founding and leading the strategy and design firm Sub Rosa, Michael worked with influential organizations from the American Civil Liberties Union, Google, LVMH, and Nike to the United Nations and the Obama-Biden Administration, translating empathy from a feeling into a practical discipline. He has served as visiting faculty at Princeton University, the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, the Esalen Institute, and the United States Military Academy at West Point, as well as executive education programs, where he translated real-world brand and organizational challenges into methods that prepare leaders to succeed amidst complexity.
Presently as co-founder of the advisory firm Equalls, he partners with leaders, teams, and boards at moments of transformation. Alongside the organizational work, he is a member of the Explorers Club and serves as Board President of Tribal Link Foundation, a United Nations affiliated organization supporting Indigenous leaders and their communities worldwide.
His work has been featured in Fast Company, Forbes, PBS NewsHour, and The New York Times, and he has spoken at SXSW, The TED Conference, and conferences globally. Across all of Michael's work, there is a through-line of bringing intuitive judgment and operational rigor to moments when we must confront reality, take ownership, and move forward with clarity.
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Forbes
Friends of Friends
The Future of Storytelling (Speaker)
GQ
Inc.
New York Advertising Week (Speaker)
SXSW (Speaker)
T Magazine
The New York Times
The TED Conference (Speaker)
WIRED
An essay most weeks on empathy, purpose, and the parts of being human that resist measurement. Free.