Empathy and Leadership Skills Development
LIFE SKILLS & VALUE EDUCATION – CLASS-XI – UNIT- 5 Empathy and Leadership
Empathy refers to our ability to understand and share the feelings of another. When you are empathetic, you put yourself in another person’s shoes, make an effort to see the world from their perspective, and feel the emotions that they feel.
Often confused with sympathy, empathy actually requires perspective- taking. When you are being empathetic, you are doing more than feeling sorry for another person; you are actually trying to imagine the situation from that person’s point of view.
Being empathetic can take different forms, depending on the situation. From personal life to professional or school interactions, these are some ways people show empathy.
A Friend Fails a Test
Imagine you are a student and a friend in your class has just failed a major test or exam. Your friend is distraught because she studied really hard and still failed. Even though you got a good grade on this test, you remember what it is like to fail. You don’t try to fix things for your friend. Instead, you make an empathetic statement like, “I’m so, so sorry about your grade. I know how hard you studied and how disappointed you must feel.”
A Student Gets Bullied
In the restroom at school, one student gets teased and pushed into a stall by other kids. Imagine you’re a kid watching this interaction. How do you demonstrate empathy? First, you remember what it is like to be picked on. You may wait until the bullies have left and help the kid out of the stall. You could also show compassionate empathy and take action by reporting the bullying to an adult.
Overwhelmed Co-Worker
Your co-worker has a mountain of work to do and will need to come in over the weekend to finish. You don’t do the same kind of work, and there’s no way for you to offer practical help. Still, you know what it’s like to lose a weekend to work, and you feel really bad for your colleague. On Saturday, you show empathy by stopping by the office with some coffee and donuts for him, along with a few encouraging words.
Employee With a Bad Day
You run a small hardware store. One morning, a man comes in and is irate with your employee because the screws she recommended do not fit his project. You help him get what he needs and be on his way. When you look at your employee, your heart sinks. She is trying not to cry. Your empathetic response is, “I’m so sorry that happened. Being yelled at is awful. Take some time if you need it.”
Client Struggling With Loss
Imagine you are a therapist or counselor. You are working with a widower who can’t seem to get past his grief over the loss of his wife. You listen carefully as he explains the way the grief keeps coming back, even though it’s been several months. You know what it’s like to feel loss. Your empathetic response could be comforting words like, “It’s really hard to feel grief like this. It follows no rules, and it can be unpredictable. Some days are just really difficult.”
Patient in Pain
You work at a clinic and an older woman comes in complaining of knee pain. She has arthritis in both knees. There are many practical solutions you can offer to help, but you also choose to show empathy. You can do this by reflecting her situation in your tone and words, such as, “I
know it must be really difficult to go about your normal life with this pain. Let’s see what we can do to help.”
Friend Enduring a Break-Up
A friend going through a difficult break-up is an opportunity to show empathy in your social life. Imagine you didn’t like her boyfriend, and
you haven’t approved of this relationship. She comes to you
distraught that it is over. Part of being empathetic is reserving
judgement, so you set aside what you think should happen and focus on her feelings instead. You give her a hug and listen attentively while she talks.
Help People Feel Less Alone
Showing empathy is an important way to build strong relationships
and be a good friend. Ultimately, people feel less alone when they know you understand their perspective, and that’s what empathy is all about.
Leadership And Responsibility
- Lead while Guiding
- Use interpersonal and problem-solving skills to influence and guide others toward a goal
- Involve strengths of others to accomplish a common goal
- Inspire others to attain their best by example
- Demonstrate integrity and ethical behaviour in using influence and power
- Be Responsible to Everyone
- Act responsibly keeping in mind the welfare of society and nation.
At any age, regardless of your station in life or your salary, table manners are essential for two reasons. One is to make others comfortable. How many of us have been forced to dine with someone who may have filthy hands, coughs all over the food and forces us to observe the as yet undigested bits of their food as they roll around gobs of food in their open mouths? Would we wish to visit such vexatious behaviour on others?
IMPORTANT ADD ONS
There are many other important life skills that fall within the larger life skill categories and that are key to well-being. They include the following:
- Managing anger issues
- Setting goals
- Having a positive mindset
- Knowing your worth
- Self-actualization
- Self-confidence
- Having good habits
- Taking effective action
- Setting the right priorities
- Self-soothing
- Optimism
- Acceptance (non-judgement) of others
- Ability to let go of the past
- Knowing who you are
- Knowing your strengths and weaknesses
- Being thankful
- Knowing your core values
- Achieving flow
- Knowing how to generate positive emotions
- Being self-determined
- Being compassionate
- Knowing how to calm down
- Practicing kindness
- Self-motivation
- Practicing self-disclosure
- Emotional intelligence
- Being self-compassionate
- Expressing rather than suppressing your emotions
- Loving yourself
- Living without regrets
Life Skills for Teenagers
Although all of the life skills we’ve discussed so far are important for people of all ages, we may have an easier time learning specific life skills (and benefiting from them) at different ages. It all has to do with the kinds of challenges we are facing at different times in our lives. A teenager, for example, is dealing with changing hormones, peer pressure, and identity formation. Here are some life skills that might be good for teenagers to focus on:
- Learning how to say “no”
- Setting a schedule
- Allotting time for adequate sleep
- Time management
- Learning to communicate with adults
- Tolerating rejection
- Managing peer pressure
- Making their own decisions
- Expressing their true feelings
- Being authentic
- Stress tolerance and reduction
- Making new friends
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