For over thirty years, I have been involved in healthcare. It has been a time of constant change – in technology, standards, work organization – but also in approaches to other people.

When I started, there was a lot of talk about communicating with patients, empathy, and listening. But in reality, only some of the staff, maybe forty percent, really followed these principles. Not because the rest didn’t want to, but because the system didn’t require it. How we treated patients was based on our personality, sensitivity, and passion for the profession—not on regulations.

Over time, I noticed that in the world of medicine, procedures, orders, and results are becoming increasingly important, while people are becoming less and less so. The patient has become a case in the system. Meanwhile, the moment of diagnosis is not only the beginning of treatment—it is a moment when a person faces fear, helplessness, and a sense of loss of control. That is when they most need another person to listen to them, touch their shoulder, and say, “I am here for you.” No protocol can replace that.

I have always said that in the medical profession—but also in any profession where you have contact with other people—you cannot work without empathy. This is not a job for everyone. You have to have a love for people, patience, and humility towards life. If someone is emotionally burned out, they should be honest about it and look for a new path. The patient is not to blame for the system failing. They come for help, and it is our duty—and privilege—to give it from the heart.

When I founded Betamed S.A., my goal was to create a place where healthcare would regain its human face. I had seen too many situations where patients were treated as cases, not as people with emotions and stories. I wanted to show that medicine can be modern, effective, and at the same time full of warmth. Today, Betamed S.A. is the largest long-term care facility in Poland—modern, well-managed, but still based on the values that have guided me from the beginning: care, empathy, and respect.

From the perspective of time, I know that it is precisely these values that are the most enduring foundation. a6> values are the most enduring foundation of every company. It is possible to build a strong business based on strategies, processes and numbers, but only where there is humanity, a real organization – such that in which people want to be and want to develop themselves.

Empathy is not a weakness, but a strength of a leader. In business, we often confuse leadership with control. A true leader is someone who can listen, understand the emotions of the team, and build trust. Trust is the most valuable currency today—and it cannot be bought. It can only be earned through authenticity and consistency.

For me, management is not about hierarchy, but responsibility. It is about presence – daily, genuine, visible. A leader cannot be distant. They should be close to people, know their problems, understand their emotions. Then the company becomes a community, not just a structure. At Betamed S.A., I always said: “A patient is not a case, and an employee is not a number.” It’s a simple sentence, but it encapsulates the whole philosophy of effective leadership.

Looking at healthcare today, but also more broadly at the business world, I see that a time is coming when empathy and communication will become the competencies of the future. It is no longer enough to be an effective manager. You have to be someone who inspires, who can give courage and hope. Because regardless of the industry, we are all looking for meaning, not just results.

I believe that the future belongs to leaders with heart. To those who understand that the value of business is measured not only in numbers, but also in how much good it leaves behind. A leader with heart does not need titles or authority bestowed from above—they earn it through everyday gestures. And it is these gestures, this attentiveness and empathy, that make work meaningful.

Today, I can say with complete conviction: technology, procedures, and strategies are important, but it is people who make up every organization. And it is their hearts, sensitivity, and passion that determine whether a system—medical, business, social—will truly work.

Source: businessman.pl