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The empathy moment

The empathy moment has arrived. Business owners and managers have made hard choices. Most have worked long hours and made personal sacrifices. Some have experienced great loss. But if they haven’t conveyed empathy to their employees, it may all be for naught. Every executive coach or business consultant or strategic planning facilitator in Cincinnati, Ohio, Kentucky or Jacksonville, Florida will tell you now’s the time to focus on your empathy.

What is empathy?

Empathy is the ability to sense how others feel. Leaders with empathy can put themselves in others’ shoes. And they can convey that in an emotionally intelligent way.

Why empathy matters now

We are in an unprecedented time of pain and hardship. Lives and jobs have been lost. Everything is more difficult. Millions are hurting. And many of the same people who are suffering are your office and factory teammates.

Employees are looking to their executives for leadership and empathy. Leadership to show strength and a path forward. Empathy to show you care.

How to show empathy

For many executives, showing empathy comes naturally. If that’s you, congratulations. Keep up the good work. Show people how you feel about their situation.

The simplest way to show empathy is to sincerely ask, “How are you doing?” Then look them in the eye as they respond. Ideally you actually care about them and others, so your responses should come naturally. If not, you need to fake it. You have to act like you care.

There will be stories of spouses in the hospital, children out of work and parents who have passed away. Let them know you are so sorry to hear that. Express how difficult that must be. Don’t shift to how you have been impacted or how millions of others are in the same situation. Just do everything you can to let them know you care.

Krissi Barr of Barr Corporate Success

Krissi Barr cares. She’s helped hundreds of business owners and executives in the last 18 years. Based on her reviews, she’s the top executive coach in Cincinnati, Ohio, Kentucky and Jacksonville, Florida. Krissi has tools and methods to improve empathy and overall leadership performance, including an assessment on emotional intelligence. If you could use some help perfecting the empathy moment, please contact Krissi at Barr Corporate Success.