Empathy means stepping into someone’s shoes, relating to their life and traumas, being aware of their feelings, and understanding their needs. Empathy in a workplace requires respecting your coworkers despite having a difference of opinion. It also involves sympathizing and caring for them without implementing rules and regulations at each point.
The difference between a leader and an empathetic leader is their team’s opinion of them. An empathetic leader’s team roots for him. works to achieve targets, and shows boosted productivity, loyalty, and morale. Well-liked executives are always described as being empathetic.
Why is Empathy Important in the Workplace?
A workplace comprises people with different values, backgrounds, ideologies, and cultural understandings. An empathetic workplace considers the whole team's uniqueness and thus has a better way of dealing with challenges. It equips them with tools to deal with poor performance, overcome failure, and pave venues for each individual’s success.
From my point of view here’s how empathy benefits a workplace:
● An empathetic workplace has better communication among team members. People feel confident in presenting their points of view and disagreeing where they deem necessary.
● It improves working relationships as the senior leaders help the struggling employees improve.
● It allows all members to feel safe in owning their failures and getting new opportunities to prove their worth.
● Empathy gives rise to creative solutions and strategies for identifying challenges and resolving issues.
● It enhances customer service by anticipating the needs and requirements of clients and being more open to their suggestions.
How Can a Leader or an Employee Be More Empathetic
By actively listening to the speaker
By personalizing your communication according to your targeted audience
By helping a coworker with their challenges
By offering a different perspective
By asking questions to understand needs and requirements
By validating their feelings and acknowledging their emotions
Last Thought
I want to end this blog with a quote from Theodore Roosevelt: “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Credits:
Photo by Imgar Libuy at Photo Studio Zuid
Blog written by Giselle Alaniz