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According to PositivePsychology.com, there are eight strategies to developing empathy:
- Cultivate curiosity about the people you interact with who may come from different religious, ethnic, or political backgrounds.
- Step outside your comfort zone and learn something new, which can foster feelings of humility and lead to empathy.
- Ask for feedback from others regarding your active listening and relationship skills, and identify areas that you can improve.
- Examine how your biases impact your capacity to empathize when you make judgments about others who are different than you.
- Spend time with others who you usually don’t connect with and practice active listening to help you "walk in their shoes."
- Practice having difficult but respectful conversations with those who have different points of view by listening without interruption and being open to new ideas.
- Work on a shared cause with people different than you. Research has shown this can help to heal differences and remove biases.
- Expand your reading and expose yourself to different points of view through a variety of articles, books, and newspapers.
As we become more mindful of the way we treat others, we can take responsibility for doing our part to create a more accepting and validating environment in the workplace. Developing the skill of empathy, which is a necessary step to compassion, is crucial to promoting the evolution of a supportive and thriving workplace atmosphere.
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