Empathy is the ability to understand and share another person’s feelings. It allows you to emotionally connect by seeing the world from their perspective and imagining yourself in their place.
A common phrase used when talking about empathy is, “walking in another person's shoes”. It allows you to imagine the world from another person's perspective; to walk in their shoes, to view life from their perspective and feeling what it’s like to be in their position.
Likewise, when working in a professional environment, empathy is a useful skill as it enables professionals to build strong relationships and communicate effectively across diverse teams. Empathy can help to foster trust through addressing teams needs and improves satisfaction through the understanding of different perspectives. It is also useful for driving change, decision making and the ability to navigate differences in a globalised world. Through combining emotional intelligence with practical actions, empathy can help to strengthen interpersonal connections, promoting career growth and success.
For further information about professional relationships and how to foster these further, please take a look at the Networking Guide. You can also gain further support with your employability skills through accessing the Careers & Employability Service.
Oxford Languages (2024). Oxford Dictionaries. [online] Oxford Dictionaries. Available at: https://languages.oup.com/.
