Empathy

Empathy
	ability to experience and relate to the thoughts, emotions, or experience of others
	more than simple sympathy
		which is being able to understand and support others with compassion or sensitivity
	ability to have and display empathy is an important part of leadership.

Empathy Effects
	Empathy is positively related to job performance
	Empathy is more important to job performance in some cultures than others.

Learning Empathy
	leaders can develop and enhance their empathy skills through coaching, training, or developmental opportunities and initiatives.
	Be an active listener
		Active listeners are able to reflect the feelings expressed.
		They pay attention to others.
		They hold judgment.
		They reflect by paraphrasing information. They may say something like “What I hear you saying is . . . ”
	Listen to hear the meaning behind what others are saying
		Pay particular attention to nonverbal cues.
		Emotion expressed nonverbally may be more telling than the words people speak.
		Focus on tone of voice, pace of speech, facial expressions, and gestures.
	Encourage genuine perspective taking
		You can never understand someone unless you understand their point of view, climb in that person’s skin, or stand and walk in that person’s shoes