Emotional Intelligence > Empathy
Empathy.
Walk a mile in my shoes
and earn my trust.
What is
empathy?
Our days are made up of a string of interactions. Empathy can make these interactions more effective and meaningful. It can help build stronger bonds with others which in turn can help future interactions. It is about putting yourself in someone else’s position.
People like to know that their feelings have been listened to, or even better shared. Putting yourself in someones else’s position establishes that mutual emotional footing, breaking down barriers, leading to better outcomes.
Try and look at all the potential reasons for why someone has done or said something. Can you see a reason you recognise or may have experienced yourself?
In searching for that recognisable moment, you’re creating an overlap of experince and empathising.
“Truly empathetic people suspect there are
few kinds of madness of which they couldn’t
be capable, and are accordingly humble”
– The School of Life
The need to be
right is the enemy
of empathy.
Empathy requires you to set aside the need to appear ‘right’. That desire you have, to make someone agree with you at all costs, is the enemy of empathy. It’s stopping you from ‘hearing’ them and being able to appreciate how they are in that moment.
Being empathetic doesn’t mean always agreeing, you can have differing opinions. BUT a differing of opinions needn’t always lead to people feeling alienated and disappointed in one another. Empathy adds emotional sophistication to the ‘agree to disagree’ situation.
To be understood
is to be disarmed.
To show someone you can appreciate and care about how they feel, even in face of disagreement, means you can start to remove conflict and build a relationship based on trust and respect.
This sophistication is what leaders have been discovering to be the secret to success without consequence, in terms of your relationships. Someone is more likely to be ok with a disappointing outcome if they can feel they have been understood.
The Mystic Blend
take on empathy.
In a professional context, empathy is a powerful tool.
It not only helps promote a human-first culture, but it also allows individuals to appreciate each other more.
The benefits for team dynamics, client relations and even sales efforts are clear
1.
Understand the other person.
2.
Build an emotional connection.
3.
Progress with mutual
trust.
The two sides
of empathy.
We like to look at Empathy as having two parts. Your ability to ‘see’ others and your ability to be self aware. Both are critical to make sure that empathy can be applied well.
1. Your ability to ‘see others’
‘Seeing others’ refers to recognising and translating the emotions, behaviours
and language of those you’re interacting with.
Being able to recognise key characteristics that may indicate how the other person is experiencing the interaction.
Why? So that we begin to put ourselves in their shoes.
2. Your ability to be ‘self aware’
Being ‘Self aware’ refers to having a deep understanding of your own sensibilities,
triggers and traits.
Knowing your emotional experiences allows you to fast track the process of placing yourself in someone else’s shoes.
You can draw on your experiences and potentially match up the emotions you
felt, to theirs.
The Course.
Evolving your
Empathy.
This course breaks down into 3 sections.
Part 1: Inform & Learn
- Complete the Empathy Scale.
- What is Empathy.
- The two sides of Emapthy.
- Benefits & applicaiton.
Part 2: Initiate internally
- Workshop based activites to devleop skills.
- Learning to use the imagination & how to hear properly.
- Support for deploying strategies within your team.
Part 3: Immersion
- Regular support sessions.
- Revisiting the Empathy Scale.