Empathy, Compassion, or both—what would you choose?

There are innumerable stories about JRD Tata, the founder of Air India and several other legendary institutions. According to one such anecdote, JRD was once stuck in traffic on his way to a meeting. The cause of the gnarl was a man pulling a rather heavy handcart upslope. Without a second thought, JRD stepped out of his Merc and put his hand on the wheel, not resting till the man was over the slope and well on his way.?

Let me quote another instance from JRD Tata’s life: one of his employees had lost his son, and JRD personally went to his house to offer his condolences. He sat with the family, listened to their stories about the son, and even stayed back till the final rites.

Now the question is what did JRD display—empathy or compassion?

There are different views about these words, but the first story displayed compassion and the second about empathy.

What is the difference between empathy and compassion??

According to life coach, Tony Robbins, empathy almost always comes before compassion. First, you understand what the other person is feeling (empathy), and then you take action to help (compassion).?

Empathy is our feeling of awareness toward other people's emotions and an attempt to understand how they feel.?

Compassion is when you relate to someone's situation and want to help them. You see someone in trouble, and you feel like pitching in.

?~ BetterUp?

Empathy is an awareness of other people's emotions and the ability to understand their feelings and emotions. It is more spontaneous than you think. Empathy can bring in biases. It can unconsciously make us more sympathetic towards individuals we relate to.?

A recruit from your alma mater feels more connected to you than a random stranger.?

A natural disaster displacing people from your home country hits much closer to home. Though everyone affected is a stranger, it feels more relevant.?

What do you choose??

As a leader, you need to look at empathy and compassion effectively and use them to benefit your organization's growth.?

Empathy is the starting point that sets the tone for the entire team. How do you do good to your employees as well as your customers??

Put yourself in their shoes and understand what it takes to do their jobs and serve your customers better.?

By practicing empathy, you can unlock insights to serve your customers better. Empathy allows you to understand why one of your peers is struggling, but you still need performance.?

This is where compassion comes in.?

It would help if you empowered employees to identify opportunities and work together to solve problems. Once you understand why someone is struggling, you can find ways to help them overcome their struggle.?

The best part is you can train and improve your empathy and compassion. Training can increase our understanding of others' needs, values, and life experiences.?

For our leaders at Zuci, as a part of their KRAs, we measure both employee experience (EX) and customer experience (CX). Both are related and being empathetic and compassionate can help improve both EX and CX.

In Psychology Today, Ray Williams wrote, "While empathy is a lynchpin for good leadership, a compassionate work culture, where leaders regularly demonstrate concern for people experiencing difficulties and act upon the concern to help and support is also a key element."

Both empathy and compassion have a positive feedback loop.?

The first step is understanding people's feelings, emotions, and struggles (empathy). This needs to be followed up by helpful action (compassion).

So, by practicing both empathy and compassion, we become better at helping and serving others, benefiting both the giver and the receiver.