Latest / RiseUp - Live Joy Your Way / Empathy in the Workplace

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Empathy in the Workplace · RiseUp - Live Joy Your Way

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Today's episode is produced by my friends at Walk West.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: If you're looking to grow your brand and generate leads through podcast or video production, head over to walkwest.com.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, let's start the show.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Rise up, live joy your way.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: From emotional intelligence through cognitive distortions, certified life and wellness coach Comedy Wood is on a mission to help people see the magnificence of their own unique human spirit.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Through these small bites of self-visualization and self-confidence, you can have healthy relationships, success in business and career, and live the life you want to live.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Rise up, live joy your way.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: Hi there and welcome to another episode of Rise Up, Live Joy Your Way.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: I want to just take a quick moment to say thank you for tuning in, whether it's morning, afternoon, or evening for you, I appreciate you taking time out of your day to spend with me.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: And so today I wanted to talk about empathy, but I wanted to talk about empathy in the context of the workplace.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: So recently I was in a conversation with the difference between in a conversation with someone about the difference between empathy and sympathy.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: And what came up was the importance of empathy being around I am with you, that that's basically the underlying thought that I am with you versus sympathy is more like, oh, I feel bad for you.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: And when you are with somebody, it allows for room for them to be witnessed, to be understood, to feel more understood.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: And so I thought, you know, just in the context of work and how we move forward, talking about how empathy and leadership in the workplace are connected and why it matters.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: So again, empathy is the ability to stand with somebody and to comprehend and respond to the feelings as if you can be, you are with them, you are in that situation with them.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's almost as if you're climbing into the situation, it's like you're in that bubble, experiencing that reality with them.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: Not that you're taking it on as your own, but that you're able to at least engage and connect with how they are feeling, both emotionally and rationally.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: So and here's the key is that a lot of people will interchange sympathy and empathy, but they're not the same thing.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um compassion is used in both, but sympathy is around the fact that they are um sympathy is is feeling sorry for somebody rather than being able to um truly uh allow them, the other person to know that they are being witnessed.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: It and and that's that's a real key um aspect of it.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: So when we are being empathetic, we are identifying and acknowledging and feeling with somebody without judgment.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: That's where the compassion comes into place.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's without judgment, but allowing them to feel what they're gonna feel.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: According to a lot of mental health professionals, empathy is the basis for healthy relationships because it helps us understand other people's feelings, it helps us understand their perspectives, and it helps us understand what their intentions may be.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: And that understanding actually allows us to communicate more effectively and to respond more appropriately from a place of compassion rather than just reactivity.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, empathy is also essential in leadership skills because when we are able to really truly be with somebody, we are able to also then lead them.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um why?
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: Because when we are able to practice empathy, we are actually engaging in a form of emotional intelligence and it allows us to communicate in a healthier way.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: So, what really do we mean by empathetic leadership?
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's a leadership style that focuses on understanding the people that you're working with and understanding their perspectives.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's being a leader who tends to be people focused and help them identify with people around them.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: So being an empathetic leader allows you to connect with a variety of people and it allows you to actually engage with them from a place of interest and from a place of wanting to know more about who they are and how they're thinking.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: So, examples of empathy in a workplace would be taking time to uh recognize where, let's say you're a manager, it would be taking time to recognize where the person working under you might be coming from in their perspective, um, really understanding what their thought process is before automatically going into some type of criticism or critique of what they're saying.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um examples are uh connecting, so connecting with your employees personally, showing interest in their interest, showing interest in their needs, and demonstrating a willingness to help them.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: Empathetic leaders are very sensitive to the signs of burnout.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: Burnout and overworking is really prevalent in in um the workplace in in this day and age.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: So it's really being attuned to what your employees how they're showing up, and it's not taking on responsibility for them communicating certain things, but it's at least being attuned to how they're showing up.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um nurturing a positive communication style.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: So making sure that you're you're taking time to allow your employees to communicate with you, and you're you're not coming at them from a place of closed being closed off, but being willing to understand once again their perspective, uh, understand their feelings, understand their motives.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: And this is really vital in the workplace because when our employees feel safe, they're able to um, they a couple things.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: One, they don't feel stressed out, two, that emotional safety allows for their own intrinsic motivation to continue to grow and evolve, which is gonna allow them room to be more engaged in their work and um to contribute to the workplace as a whole.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: So let's talk about stress.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: So when we are empathetic and we're we're showing up as an empathetic leader, we're giving our employees space to talk about what's coming up for them, which allows them to not bottle it up and allows them to actually feel like they can trust you as their leader as well as the fact that they can trust their coworkers.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: What this does is it allows room for stronger relationship connections, it allows for stronger teams.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: Poor leadership is honestly characterized by a lack of communication.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's um a lack of allowing people to express what's coming up for them.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's when we see a lot of issues in the workplace.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: So if we were looking to increase the quality of work, it's also having the ability to respect our employees and to create that emotional safety, which absolutely comes from this place of empathy, allowing for our employees to feel like you understand them.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: So practicing your listening skills, cultivating compassion, paying attention to your own self, what's coming up for you, and are you potentially projecting onto your employees?
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: So as you are working towards this idea of creating more of a um a harmonious workplace, and if you are in that leadership position, it's taking time to understand yourself to really work on areas where maybe you aren't feeling heard, or how can you practice empathy with yourself?
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: How can you practice self-compassion?
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: Why?
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: Because then as you show up as a leader, you're gonna show up with that empathy for the people who work for you and who report to you.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: That then creates a sense of emotional safety for them, which allows for them to continue to contribute to the team, and it overall will help the work environment and the team environment as a whole.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: If you'd like to talk about this more, feel free to reach out to me at any time at chatwithcomedy.com.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: And until next time, stay well.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to Rise Up, Live Joy Your Way.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: For more information, book a chat with comedy at www.chatwithcomedy.com or visit her website at www.comedywood.com.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: You can also find comedy on Facebook or Instagram.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: Username it's authentic me.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.