Empathy is an important characteristic to have, yet very few people seem to have it anymore. Empathy is important in all areas of life, whether in your work place or any relationship you have with family, friends or a significant other.
The definition of Empathy is “the feeling that you understand and share another person's experiences and emotions: the ability to share someone else's feelings.” Basically, the idea of "putting yourself in their shoes" comes to mind.
In Empathy: Why It’s Important Why We Should Nurture It in Our Kids, Steve Palmer states that empathy is “a core skill for what psychologists call ‘pro-social’ behavior — the actions that are involved in building close relationships, maintaining friendships, and developing strong communities. It appears to be the central reality necessary for developing a conscience, as well.” Not only is teaching empathy important in situations of parents and children but it's important in everything.
Palmer discusses how it’s important to have emotional intelligence skills for personal, relationship and even work success. One of the most important of the emotional intelligence skills is empathy. Although you may not think emotional intelligence is important to have in relationships and in the work place it is. Having a higher emotional intelligence can help anyone in relationships like when your significant other is upset about anything having empathy is so beyond important. Same in the work place, empathy's important to have so you can just better understand and read people better.
Some of the main points he gives parents as they teach their kids empathy are:
Help your kids put words to their emotions.
By helping them find the words to show they feel, you can help them understand others' emotions as well.
Feel out loud.
It helps to say what you’re feeling. Kids often watch their parents, and sometimes parents don’t realize that what they do has more of an influence on their kids than what they say. Share what you’re feeling and how it affects you because this can teach kids how to help others who may have similar feelings.
Include empathy as part of discipline.
Show your child how a sibling might have felt when he/she got hurt or had something taken from them. Teach them that there is a problem and how to create a solution. Also, show empathy to the perpetrator. If you just yell at them and not try to explain all you’re doing, it shows them to keep their feelings bottled up and not have empathy for the "bad guy."
Reward empathy.
Show that you see your kids learning to be empathetic with some recognition… or ice-cream.
Be patient.
Although the above article was directed at mainly parents with their children, anyone can take this advice and learn how to be more empathetic. According to Chad Fowler's "Why Empathy Is Your Most Important Skill (and How to Practice it), it’s important to practice empathy for many different reasons. Being empathetic will help you understand the needs of people around you, you will more clearly understand the perception you create in others with your words and actions, you will have less trouble dealing with interpersonal conflict both at home and at work, and it can help you deal with negativity if you’re able understand people’s motivations and fears better.
Sometimes people can just be mean. It is as simple as that, no rhyme or reason behind it. They just are. These are the people who need your empathy the most. But, these are also the people who are the hardest to give your empathy to. That’s OK. Do it anyway. The way someone treats you doesn’t reflect anything about you; it reflects who they are as a human being. With everything going on in today’s society, we need empathy now more than ever. It’s so important.
