
How to Cultivate Empathy in the Workplace
Nancy Milton, international business communications expert, keynote speaker and author, share some vital tips in this short podcast on how to cultivate empathy in the workplace. Empathy is a skill that people are losing and or using less of every day. In the past 20 years (with the past 10 years playing a dominate role) a 40% decline in the markers of Empathy in College students – linked by researchers to the new presence of digital communication.
We’re human beings. Connection fuels us. Nancy gives us helpful tips to make our workplaces more satisfying and our personal lives more fulfilled. All of this will lead to greater productivity in our professional environements.
We show empathy different ways. Think about BEing real versus ‘doing it right’
- Breath.
- Breathe some more. Yoga & meditation rock for a lot of reasons. Breathe while giving empathy. Such a gift.
- Say little, be much. AKA be present, be there for THEM (not you) and feel.
- More breathing
- Practice & repeat
Why all the breathing? If you haven’t been practicing empathy in the past, it might have to do with your discomfort level with certain feelings. You breathing will help calm you, help center you so you can stay focused on being there for the other person, versus starting to focus on your response to the situation.
Reminders
- It’s about them. Not you.
- Solving, fixing and making things better is not empathy
- It’s okay to show feelings
- It’s okay to not know what to say yet it’s not okay to drop the person in front of you because of your lack of comfort.
How we cultivate empathy in the workplace can be learned and in this short podcast, Nancy will explain some easy tips so that you can make that happen.