Archive for empathy
Empathy — A Central Quality of the Servant Leader
Posted by: | CommentsContinuing from our post of August 24, 2009 that focused on ten characteristics/qualities of the servant leader, the second in the list is “empathy.”
To start it’s important to make the distinction between empathy and sympathy.
Imagine someone you know is not feeling well, perhaps feeling nauseated.
In simple terms sympathy is feeling support for, offering help to, willing to do something for that person. You recognize their distress and acknowledge it.
Empathy means feeling nauseated with that person—you mentally or emotionally project your experience into the feelings or state of mind of another person.
So why would empathy versus sympathy be listed as a quality of a servant leader? Read More→
Sympathy or Empathy: A Soft Sell Dilemma
Posted by: | CommentsThese two words, “Empathy” and Sympathy” are very often confused.
And, so what. Who cares whether there is a nuanced difference between them. Use one, use the other, it’s pretty much all the same.
Well in fact, it’s not.
It is very likely that as a care-giver and service provider you tend, by personality, toward being an empath—enjoying a strong, dominant ability to empathize.
However, not knowing the difference between sympathy and empathy can bring your business to its knees. Because, as powerful and praiseworthy as empathy can be, empathy has hidden in it a blind trap of self-denial leading to business frustration and even a sense of personal failing.
So okay. Now what? Read More→
