Nowadays empathy is one of the most significant soft skills you can possess. To start with, empathy is broadly interpreted as the capacity to understand another’s pain and to be considerate of the complicatedness of issues behind another person’s perspective.
The ability to see another person’s intentions and actions from their point of view is important to an organization’s overall success. In this day and era to get a job acquiring just technical skills isn’t enough. Soft skills are the most sought after by employers of which empathy is one of them. Empathy is also a skill that enables us to have an understanding, and share the same feelings that others feel. Through empathy, we can put ourselves in other people’s shoes and connect with how they feel about their difficulty, situation, or conditions.
Take into consideration a classroom setting. A teacher asks the pupils or students what their best class or subject is. The response the teacher gets isn’t based on the subject they love the most, but rather, on the love they have for that particular teacher. And this love arises as a result of the teacher being empathic with them. Considering their stance, giving them room to share their views or opinions. Many a time, we seem to have an understanding of ourselves through the people we spend our time with and we develop our sense of self from the categories of people with whom we have closest relationships.
Empathy also fosters alliance which is vital for teams to function effectively in the workplace environment. In addition, empathy can broaden your horizons and expand your thinking. By having an understanding of a different point of view, you can lengthen and test different perspectives and ideas, a technical key for successful innovation, and which is important to ensure your thinking doesn’t remain stagnant.
Regardless of any type of empathy, one is exercising, most important is putting in action. All the understanding of someone else’s circumstances should turn into understanding, compassion, and deeds. Empathy in action is having an understanding of a colleague’s struggles and offering a helping hand. It is showing appreciation of a coworker’s point of view and engaging them in a healthy debate that’s geared towards building a better solution. It is putting into consideration a team member’s viewpoints and making new recommendations that can help attain greater success for the group. As the popular saying goes thus, people may not remember your actions, but they are sure to remember how you made them feel. Through empathy, you can guarantee your actions which may be forgotten, make contributions to positive feelings and experiences which are extraordinary in the long term. In addition, by creating strong friendships you are creating positive consequences for yourself as well.
Use empathy to peddle ideas, relate with colleagues, achieve more in a team and expand your own perspectives.
A lot of times when situations come up, people constantly need to confide in someone to help work out the problems. Being empathetic goes a step further than being accessible and listening. To prove that you truly have an interest in the person and the problem, be responsible by following up. Check in to see how things are unfolding and whether the situation has been resolved. Be available and listen again. Give alternative opinions or suggestions if the problem hasn’t been settled. Empathy pertains to an accountability loop of checking in until that problem has been resolved and the person concerned feels a lot better.
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