Empathy

Session 5

Service Culture
Objectives

• Discuss how empathy is applied

as a social competency and why
it is an important skill for
leaders to develop

• Analyze situations which would

benefit from the practice of
empathy

• Develop and/or apply empathy

Introduction

This module was designed to provide a structure

meant to guide students in developing Empathy as a
critical social competency required of a developing
leader.

It is the first of two modules discussing social

competence.
Video

What is Empathy?

The feeling that you understand and share another

person's experiences and emotions : the ability to
share someone else's feelings

Show Empathy video

Barack Obama Promotes Empathy with Oprah Winfrey- My mother taught me empathy.wmv

Source: Merriam and Webster

Empathy as a Skill

Empathy is the capacity to recognize and to an

extent, share feelings that are being experienced
by another person.

- It is the ability to place one’s self in the shoes of

another, see through someone else’s eyes; it is a
means of identifying with another person or group
with whom we interact.

- It is thus a social skill albeit a critical one.

Defusing Conflict

Empathy has great use in the area of conflict

management.

An empathetic person engaged in conflict

management may actually sense how other
people feel.
Defusing Conflict

He / she would be able to call on supporting or

operative skills in order to understand the true
nature of the conflict, how it affects any of the
parties involved, and attempt to defuse the
conflict:

• Trust * Attentiveness
• Appropriate Responses * Shared
Experiences
• Respect * Support
Empathy as a Social Competency

Social competencies are skills that determine how

we handle relationships.

According to Daniel Goleman, we make use of

empathy as a social competency to understand
others.

As a value, we use it to help us in developing other

people, work on a service orientation, leverage
diversity and to develop political awareness.
Empathic Leadership

Maximizing the use of empathy is especially useful

to leadership.

Since staff development is a core task, leaders can

draw from empathy to provide the kind of
guidance his or her direct reports can
appreciate.
Leadership Methods/Styles

Coaching In this kind of leadership, coaches

Leadership give direction together with an action
plan; then they follow-up with
appropriate support and empathic
correction.
Leadership Methods/Styles

Coaching Periodic activators keep people on

Leadership the right track, while intermittent
consequences provide motivation to
keep people going.
Leadership Methods/Styles

Delegating When leaders ‘assign’ a task in

Leadership general terms to limit behavior-
focused feedback, along with this
comes the expectation that team
members are already motivated to
do their best and will, by and among
themselves, give each other
direction, support and feedback.
Leadership Methods/Styles

Delegating It is also expected that team

Leadership members are responsible, and use
self-management techniques that
keep them on the right track.
Leadership Methods/Styles

Instructive This type of leadership is often used

Leadership in the case of leading new hires—
team members are highly motivated
but do not know what to do.
Leadership Methods/Styles

Instructive A lot of extrinsic motivation is

Leadership needed and instructional leadership
helps such team members to
channel, or redirect, their
motivation.

Based on the situation, empathy

does not always figure in the
instruction.
Leadership Methods/Styles

Supportive In certain cases, more support

Leadership rather than direction is needed, as
in the case of supportive leadership.
Leadership Methods/Styles

Supportive Empathic leaders tailor their

Leadership leadership based on the needs of
the team members.

Where necessary, instruction is

given newer members while the
more mature and motivated could
be delegated to undertake tasks.
Leadership Methods/Styles

Supportive Coaching will be applied in

Leadership instances where a sense of direction
and motivation is needed.

Finally, support could be provided

at any point whenever it is
necessary.
Social Radar

Empathy helps us determine how to adapt to given

situations especially when we consider the general
aspects of:

• Understanding others – Empathy is crucial to

excellence

• Developing others – Empathy is best acknowledged

when people are promoted to certain designations
to develop their potentials
Social Radar

• Service orientation – Empathy provides a

framework for how support can be appropriately
provided to customers

• Leveraging diversity – Empathy plays a

significant role in enabling synergy within a
group

• Political awareness – Empathy contributes to

‘savvy’ which allows people to respond
effectively despite currents in the organization
Social Radar (continued)

Things that help us develop empathy:

• Trust
• Attentiveness
• Appropriate responses
• Shared experiences
• Respect
• Support
Service Orientation

Refers to giving much importance to efforts that would

improve overall customer experience such as:

• Listening to customers
• Understanding customers
• Anticipating their needs
• Giving high priority to issue resolution
• Gaining customer satisfaction
Notes