EMPATHY 4 TRUTH
So, this one article I told you about yesterday,
“A Primary Task of Leadership is Direct Attention”,
spoke to a few things that were so relevant to the concept of harmony.
One of which is how EMPATHY is paramount for understanding the TRUTH in situations (and in people).
From the article,
“The word “attention” comes from the Latin
attendere which means “to reach toward”.
This is a perfect definition of focus on others,
which is the foundation of empathy and the ability
to build social relationships – the second
and third pillars of emotional intelligence.”
We must pay
close attention
to
EMPATHY
to
champion
HARMONY
in our lives
and those around us…
“Executives who can effectively focus on others
are easy to recognize. They are the ones who
find common ground, whose opinion carry
the most weight, and with whom other
people want to work.
They emerge as natural leaders regardless
of organizational or social rank.
The empathy triad:
Cognitive empathy – the ability to understand
another person’s perspective.
Emotional empathy- the ability to feel
what someone else feels.
Empathetic concern – the ablity to sense what
someone else needs from us.
There are three different
kinds of empathy.
All
3
are
important!
“Contrary to what you might expect, exercising
cognitive empathy requires leaders to think
about feelings rather than feel them directly.”
The ability
Not to get
Emotional about situations
But rather
To acknowledge emotion,
To UNDERSTAND emotion
Is so extremely essential
To understand
TRUTH
“An inquisitive nature feeds cognitive empathy.
You need to understand your own feelings
To understand the feelings of others.”
We must
Be CURIOUS
For harmony…
Curious about the TRUTH.
And, we can’t understand
TRUTH, until we know ourselves…
If we don’t really know ourselves,
We can never really know others.
That is a
HIGH BAR,
But
A REACHABLE
One!
“Empathetic concern, which is closely related to
Emotional empathy, enables you to sense not just
how people feel but what they need from you.”
And,
There it is!
To understand
The TRUTH
To have the possibility
To champion harmony
You need EMPATHY
Because that is the only
Way that you can comprehend
What others NEED OF YOU.
When we know what others need from us…
What the SITUATION
What the TRUTH
Needs from US…
Then we can move the situation
Toward our want.
Without EMPATHY…
We ACT the way WE want to act.
We DO the things WE want to do.
NOT
NECESSARILY
THE THINGS
THE TRUTH
OTHERS NEED FROM US.
Without empathy,
We can’t see the truth.
We can’t see what the truth
Needs from us, to reach our want.
We conclude that its what
We choose to see.
And, that doesn’t work.
For harmony,
We can’t act on our own,
Expect on our own,
Achieve on our own…
Because in virtually in ALL human situations,
We have others in our circle.
It could be clients, adversaries, suppliers, employees,
Managers, bosses, children, spouses, parents…
There are ALWAYS other people involved
In our TRUTH…
And, to know them…
To feel them…
To UNDERSTAND them…
Requires EMPATHY.
It is such a massively powerful skill,
One that is so very difficult to teach…
It’s like teaching someone to care.
And, harmony is virtually impossible to achieve
Without it.
Do you feel me ;-)
Think about it…
Empathy
4
TRUTH
Truth
4
HARMONY…
Nestor