Continuing 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→