EMPATHY

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings or others, the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the capacity to place oneself in another's position.
It involves the ability to match another's emotions, it also involves being tenderhearted toward another person.
Empathy is quite different from Sympathy, Empathy is a term used for the ability to understand other people's feelings as if we were having them ourselves while Sympathy refers to the ability to take part in someone else's feelings, mostly by feeling sorrowful about their misfortune.
Empathy is the ability to accurately put yourself "in someone else's shoes," to understand the other's situation, perceptions, and feelings from their point of view and to be able to communicate that understanding back to the other person. Empathy is a critical skill for you to have as a leader.

There are several kinds of Empathy, which are: Cognitive, Emotional and Compassionate Empathy.
Cognitive Empathy is knowing how the other person feels and what they might be thinking. Sometimes called perspective-taking. It helps in negotiations, motivating other people, understanding diverse viewpoints, and so on. It is connected with thoughts, understanding and intellect. It can be disconnected from or ignore deep emotions.
Emotional Empathy is feeling physically along with the other person, as though their emotions were contagious, it is connected with feeling and physical sensations. It Helps in close interpersonal relationships and careers like coaching, marketing, and so on, it gets overwhelming and inappropriate in certain circumstances.
Compassionate Empathy is just like it sounds, involves directly feeling the emotions that another person is feeling. You’ve probably heard of the term “empath,” meaning a person with the ability to fully take on the emotional and mental state of another. Like Cognitive Empathy, Emotional Empathy has its flip-side. One downside of emotional empathy occurs when people lack the ability to manage their own distressing emotions.

There are several ways of showing Empathy, some of which are; Acknowledge their pain, Share how you feel, Show gratitude that the person opened up to you, Show interest, Be encouraging, and supportive.

By: Sidiqah Uthman



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