I Feel You! — Empathy at Work

Everyday Virtues…

You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t think being empathetic is a good idea. As an ideal in America, empathy is right up there with baseball, apple pie, and Chevrolet. So, why then does it sometimes seem so hard to find empathy in the workplace? I think it’s because empathy requires three things: listening, openness, and understanding — and we’ll all be too busy for that, right? Demonstrating empathy takes time, effort, and focus to show awareness and understanding. It means putting others ahead of yourself, which can be a challenge in today’s competitive workplace.

When you think about it, that’s pretty much what we’re all here to do every day, solve problems. It’s true those “problems” cover a wide range of topics and complexity, while simultaneously, the people with whom we are interacting or collaborating bring diverse backgrounds, experiences, and opinions to the table.

It’s not always easy to understand why a fellow employee or family member thinks or feels the way they do about a situation or topic. But whether it’s a relative, a close teammate, or an internal or external customer, ask yourself, are you more concerned with getting your way, winning, or being right? Or, is it your priority to find a solution, build a relationship, and accept others (even with all their “quirks” as you might think of them)? Without an open mind and attitude, you probably won’t have enough room for empathy.

Consider this: Developing an empathic approach is perhaps the most significant effort you can make toward improving your people skills. When you understand others, they’ll probably want to understand you — and this is how you can start to build cooperation, collaboration, and collegiality.