--- title: "Cognitive Empathy: Knowing Your WHO | Your Craft Your Climb" description: "AEC work is communication work. Why high-agency leaders make sure their teams know who uses their work — and what those people actually need from it." lang: en json-ld: | { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "headline": "Cognitive Empathy — Knowing Your WHO", "description": "Why high-agency AEC leaders make sure their teams know who uses their work and what those people actually need from it.", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Zack Tomlin", "url": "https://yourcraftyourclimb.com" }, "datePublished": "2026-09-02", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://yourcraftyourclimb.com/articles/cognitive-empathy-knowing-your-who" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Your Craft Your Climb", "url": "https://yourcraftyourclimb.com" } } --- [![Your Craft Your Climb - Business and Leadership Growth](/__l5e/assets-v1/25aac360-096f-4a69-bf6f-fb90cf595961/logo-horizontal.png)](/) [All Articles](/articles) High-Agency Leadership # Cognitive Empathy — Knowing Your WHO In the AEC industry, you’re really in the communication business Zack Tomlin, PE · September 2, 2026 I share this story in my book: For the longest time my wife asked each morning what the weather would be that day. Early on I’d say something like “57 degrees and cloudy.” After a few years it evolved to “cool and grey.” Then, when I finally understood, I gave the answer she was looking for: “Sweater, pants, and maybe an umbrella.” We were talking about the same thing — the weather — but what she wanted out of the conversation was much different than my default answer. And it’s cognitive empathy that closed the gap. It’s an essential skill of professionals in the AEC industry — to be able to “put yourself in another’s shoes” and then communicate your expertise and ideas to those starting from a different place. But it’s also a skill of high-agency leaders: > Does my team know who’s asking them about the weather, and what do they really want to know? ## You’re Really in the Communication Business A conversation I almost always had with entry-level candidates at my engineering firm was about plan sets. The typical structure, order, and the default components (schedules, notes, details, plan and elevation views, etc.) — but also WHO the plans were for. School and early professional life leans heavy on the design side, and it isn’t long before a mechanical engineer is sizing an HVAC unit correctly, a civil engineer is laying out the most efficient neighborhood a developer can imagine, and an architect gets the gestalt just right of a new office atrium. That’s the “easy” part. The hard part: learning that if you’re in the AEC industry, you’re really in the communication business. But that’s true of most areas of high-agency leadership. If, as leaders, we’re expecting our teams to do their best work — to put their specialized skills to good use — then they have to know the objective. And while it’s easy to default to thinking that objective is to design or build “X,” it’s really design or build “X,” and then communicate the details to those who need them. And again we’re back to the WHO. ## Who Actually Uses the Work My conversations about the WHO generally took the form of naming off all those who needed to make use of the plans we were creating, and that if only one of those parties was important the roll of plans would not be as heavy (or the file size of the PDF not as large). Unfortunately, in the AEC world one set of plans gets used by: - **Designers of other trades** — the structural engineer needs the architect’s occupancy and usage to calculate loads; the mechanical engineer needs the ceiling plan to place diffusers; the electrical engineer needs everyone’s equipment to plan power, on and on… - **The project manager** — reads the set to track progress, confirm scope, and verify the owner’s requirements are being met. - **The seal holder** — the one who’s in professional charge. - **Plan reviewers and inspectors** — building, fire, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, accessibility, zoning, public utilities, environmental. Each with a specific code, each cares only about their slice. - **The GC’s pre-con team** — has to read the set well enough to price the job accurately before anyone builds anything. - **The GC’s project team and site supers** — translates the documents into means, methods, and sequencing in the field. - **Subcontractors** — each trade needs their scope to be clear enough to bid and build from. - **Suppliers** — quantify materials and order what the drawings call for. - **Field inspectors** — verifying the built work matches the documents. And of course the owner/user of the project itself. Can they make sense of what they’re getting? Do they see any issues early when it’s on paper, or later when it’s a headache (and expensive) to fix? There’s undoubtedly more (lenders, insurers, leasing agents, maintenance staff…) but the point remains the same, from my book: > “When our teams understand what someone will do with the information they’re providing, they communicate differently. Not just more accurately, but in a way that’s more useful.” And as leaders, it’s providing that context that allows those we lead to operate with a high degree of agency. To do their best work, independently, more often. So is your team clear on the WHO of their work? * * * _I’m Zack Tomlin, founder of [Your Craft Your Climb](https://yourcraftyourclimb.com). I help firms develop the senior and emerging leaders they depend on, through peer groups, workshops, and direct advisory support built specifically for the AEC industry._ _Related reading: [Why People Misunderstand Each Other at Work](/articles/why-people-misunderstand-each-other-at-work) and [What Redlines (and Corrections) Cost](/articles/what-redlines-cost). Ready to put these ideas to work? [Work with Zack](/)._ Further Reading [ More Articles Browse all writings. ](/articles)[ Home Work with Zack. ](/) Get In Touch ## Contact Us Have a question, want to know more, or just want to say hello? 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