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Leadership: What's Empathy Got to Do With It?
By: Bruna Martinuzzi
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Empathy is your
ability to identify and understand another’s
situation, feelings and
motives
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A
leader can never be happy until
his people are happy. |
<
Genghis
Khan |
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You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other
people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in
you. |
Dale
Carnegie |
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Here are a few practical tips
you
might consider to help you develop capacity for empathy:
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Don't
interrupt people. Don't dismiss their concerns
offhand. Don't rush to give advice. Don't change the
subject. Allow people their moment. |
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Tune
in to non-verbal communication.
This is the way
that
people often
communicate what they think or feel, even
when their verbal communication says something quite
different.
>>> |
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Practice the 93% rule. We know from a famous
study by Professor Emeriti, Albert Mehrabian of UCLA, that
words – the things we say – account for only 7% of the total
message that people receive. The other 93% of the message
that we
communicate when we speak is contained in our tone of
voice and
body language.
It's important, then, to spend some time to understand how
we come across when we communicate with others. A simple
thing like frowning or a raised eyebrow when someone is
explaining their point of view can disconnect us from the
speaker and make us appear as though we lack understanding. |
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Empathy means challenging your
preconceived ideas and setting aside your sense of what you think is
true in order to learn what actually is true that people aren’t
conscious of. |
Tom Kelley
IDEO |
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Use
people's name. Also remember the names of
people's spouse and children so that you can refer to them
by name. |
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Be
fully present when you are with people.
Don't
check your email, look at your watch or take phone calls
when a direct report drops into your office
to talk to you. Put yourself in their shoes. How would you
feel if your boss did that to you. |
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Smile at
people. |
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Encourage people, particularly the quiet ones,
when they speak up in meetings. A simple thing like an
attentive nod can boost people's
confidence. |
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Give
genuine recognition and praise.
Pay attention to
what people are doing and catch them doing the right things.
When you give praise, spend a little effort to make your
genuine words memorable: "You are an asset to this team
because…."; "This was pure genius"; "I would have missed
this if you hadn't picked it up."
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Take a
personal interest in people.
Show people that you
care, and genuine curiosity about their lives.
Ask them questions about their hobbies, their
challenges, their families, their aspirations. |
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