The power of empathy

This post came out from The Straits Times (15 August 2015)
Title - The power of empathy

Some pointers that I've got are:
1. Why empathy is important
2. Be compassionate
3. Think before you speak
4. Picture yourself in the same situation

On Why empathy is important

• Empathy is the ability to put yourself in another person's shoes, and see things from his or her point of view.
• Having more empathy will make you more mindful of how other people in your life may have a different world view of situations or circumstances. Appreciate this would give you the insight to know whether you are creating buy-in for your ideas and solutions, or simply hard selling what you perceive as correct.
• When you develop more empathy, your inner motivation is improved, which helps you to connect emotionally with others. When this happens, the people in your life will realise what they want, and in the same instance be as supportive of your viewpoints as you are of theirs.
• You can become more empathetic by not allowing yourself to be judgmental of others or conforming to a self-serving bias. 

On Be compassionate

• Everyone has their strengths and weakness. What will make you more compassionate is when you see the other person's strengths, choose to accentuate them and overlook their weaknesses, or even try to help the person to overcome them.

On Think before you speak

• Sometimes, people may say things out of anger or frustration and may appear to be aggressive. There is no need to counter every argument that is thrown your way or confront them with the same level of aggression. This will lead to conflict, and affect the relationship that you intend to create.
• Think of what the other person said or did, and reflect upon it before you make your point. When you start doing this, you will realise that perhaps the other person may have a point. It is then up to you to acknowledge this and rectify the situation.

On Picture yourself in the same situation

• Ask yourself how you would feel if the situation was reversed, and act accordingly. To be empathetic, you have to visualise how you would feel if what is happening to the other person were to happen to you. 

Yours,
Something Small Thinking Big