5 Tips for Empathy at Work

If you want to build relationships, increase trust and be seen as an influential leader, you’ll want to practice empathy. Sometimes it escapes us, as you’ll hear in my opening story about a recent customer service professional missing an opportunity.

5 Tips for Empathy at Work

1. Practice active listening. Focus completely on understanding your colleagues before formulating your response. Put away devices, maintain eye contact, and ask clarifying questions to demonstrate that you genuinely value their perspective.
2. Acknowledge emotions explicitly. Phrases like "That sounds frustrating" or "I can see why you're excited about this" validate your coworkers' feelings and create space for authentic communication, even in professional settings.
3. Consider communication preferences. Some colleagues may prefer direct feedback while others need a gentler approach. Pay attention to how different team members respond to various communication styles and adapt accordingly.
4. Check your assumptions. Before reacting to a confusing email or comment, ask yourself if you might be misinterpreting the message. When in doubt, seek clarification rather than responding based on potentially incorrect assumptions.
5. Make space for different voices. In meetings, notice who isn't speaking and create opportunities for their input. Sometimes the most valuable perspectives come from those who don't naturally command attention in group settings.

Some resources for you:

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Episodes also available on YouTube:

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Karen Laos, Communication Expert and Confidence Cultivator, leverages 25 years in the boardroom and speaking on the world’s most coveted stages such as Google and NASA to transform missed opportunities into wins. She is fiercely committed to her mission of eradicating self-doubt in 10 million women by giving them practical strategies to ask for what they want in the boardroom and beyond. She guides corporations and individuals with her tested communication model to generate consistent results through her Powerful Presence Keynote: How to Be an Influential Communicator.

 

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Episodes also available on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEwQoTGdJX5eME0ccBKiKng/videos

My book “Trust Your Own Voice”: 

https://karenlaos.com/book/