Empathy is Seeing with the Eyes of another, Listening with the Ears of another and feeling with the Heart of another, basically it is when being in one’s own ‘shoes’. Empathy is mainly composed by four qualities:
The first quality is understanding one’s own perspective. This quality involves the use of the brain as it requires cognitive thinking.
The second quality is explore deeply and discuss the feeling. It is very important to discuss the emotion that the person is feeling.
Another quality is to avoid being judgmental. Once empathizing it is important that the person must not judge the other person according to his or her own actions or beliefs, else it is not considered as empathizing anymore.
The last quality involves identifying emotion in others. It is vital that the person who is empathizing, must understand the exact feeling. Grasping the correct feeling shows that the person is there to listen and to able to help.
What is NOT being empathetic?
· Being Judgmental
· Not being a good listener
· Unable to focus on what people say
· Being Impatient
· Not being there for someone
· Feeling sorry or sad because of someone’s situation
· Crying with the person
Sympathy is having the skill of sharing one’s own emotions. Using this skill involves pitying the person, feeling sorry or feeling sad about what the person has experienced and this is often misunderstood as Empathy.
Examples:
Situation 1: A woman has just found out that her son has just died in a car accident.
A sympathetic response will be like this:
"OMG! I’m so sorry to hear about this sad news. I am very shocked about what happened!"
An empathetic response would be:
"You are feeling shocked about what had just happened. You are not alone. I am here to listen."
Situation 2: A guy mentioned that his partner was cheating on him.
A sympathetic response will be like this:
"You don’t deserve this because you are very honest and always there to help. I did not expect her to do this to you. I don’t know how to express my sadness."
An empathetic response would be:
"Finding out that your girlfriend has cheated on you made you feel sad and shocked as you were not expecting this."
Always Remember!
Empathy is a power gifted to us but sadly not everyone chooses to use it.
A response cannot make a situation better but when you connect to the situation, everything feels better, thats the power of Empathy.
The key to gaining respect is paved with knowledge & empathy in each and every aspect of life.
Leadership is all about Empathy, where you are able to relate and connect with people for the purpose of inspiring & empowering their lives.
Empathy is a gifted skill, more like giving someone a psychological hug.
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