One of the most heard words in management talks, boardrooms, HR discussions is Empathy. Empathy has also become one of the core values for many organisations- and it is desired that employees should have an empathetic approach towards customers. Empathy is required in day-to-day office working, in solving interpersonal problems, in addressing grievances, in counseling, in getting the best out of people.
Empathy is the ability to understand other person’s point of view – ability to look at things from other person’s perspective. Empathy is one’s ability to tune into the feelings, emotions, and experiences of another person. Empathy means to merge – have the same feelings. However, to be empathetic one must step a little backwards – to know where that perspective comes from- story behind that face- whom we interact as managers/leaders. If empathy is the ability to emotionally understand what other people feel then to know where those feelings come from is very important.
When people come to workplace – they may wear the best of...