Empathy: Unlocking the World Through Another's Eyes

Empathy is one of the concepts that we can encounter at every point in our daily lives. In its simplest definition, empathy is defined as the ability to understand and share another person's feelings, thoughts and perspective, and is actually a rich subject in both scientific and philosophical terms with the complexity and depth it contains. Although empathy is the ability to put yourself in another person's shoes and look from their window, it is not actually a one-dimensional concept. When I look at the different types of empathy;

Emotional Empathy : It is the state of feeling another person's feelings and mood and sharing their feelings. For example, feeling someone's sadness and feeling sad with them is an example of emotional empathy.

Cognitive Empathy : It is defined as the ability to understand another person's thoughts and needs. For example, trying to understand the reasons for the behaviors of a person who grew up in a different culture and has a different culture (especially the different approaches they have compared to the society they are in) can be shown as an example of cognitive empathy.

Action Empathy : It can be defined as the state of understanding the feelings and thoughts of another person and taking action and acting accordingly. For example, when you realize that a friend needs help, taking action to help them and working to do so can be given as an example of this empathy.

Different scientists have also evaluated the subject of empathy from different perspectives. Adam Smith, who is considered the father of economic thought, argued that empathy is a fundamental part of human nature and commented that people naturally feel sad when they see the pain of others and rejoice at their happiness, while social psychologist Martin Hoffman suggested that empathy is a developmental process with multiple stages and that these processes are affected by both biological and social factors.

So why is empathy an important issue in our business life as well as in our daily lives? Let's examine this subject a little.

Empathy in Work Life

Empathy is of great importance not only in our personal relationships but also in business life. Empathic leaders are more successful in motivating their employees, creating effective teams and creating teams that work for themselves and their organizations, especially in today's complex and increasingly competitive business world. The benefits of leaders who can develop and apply empathic characteristics that fit the definitions we have stated above in the business environment are as follows:

• They Increase Employee Motivation : The empathic leader approach provides a great advantage for motivation by understanding the needs and expectations of the employee. Since motivation is a very important input, especially in today's employees' search for meaning in work, leaders who can determine the goals that will motivate their employees with the empathic leadership approach come to the fore and make a difference.
• They Increase Cooperation and Encourage Innovation : Empathic leaders notice conflicts more easily and ensure that conflicts are resolved in a timely manner with their solution-oriented approaches and that cooperation increases. The empathic approach displayed by the leader spreads to all team members, increasing the culture of cooperation and assistance among team members who can understand each other's strengths and weaknesses. One of the results obtained within a team that focuses on understanding each other by being open to different perspectives is inevitably innovation and creativity.

The first example that can be given under this heading is the change that Satya Nadella created at Microsoft. When Nadella took office as CEO in 2014, he first noticed that the environment created by the strict competitive culture in the company was preventing cooperation among employees and preventing innovative projects. However, the empathy and inclusive culture approach displayed by Nedella allowed the company to offer solutions that not only respond to innovation but also to the needs of customers, creating an environment that enabled the development of products such as the Azure cloud platform.

• They Reduce Turnover Rates : The empathic work environment experienced by employees who contribute to their search for meaning, increase motivation, and are aware that their requests and needs are at least understood makes them feel more connected to their company and the environment they work in. Thanks to the approaches of empathetic leaders, employees who feel valued and supported in an environment also experience a decrease in their turnover rates and can take more confident steps towards achieving company goals.

The Path to Empathy

Empathy is not just a word, it is a bridge. This bridge connects us to people from different cultures and with different thoughts. Thanks to empathy, we become more tolerant and understanding individuals by seeing the world through their eyes. So how can we build this bridge? How can empathy skills be developed? There are various ways to do this:

• Focus on Active Listening : Listen to people's feelings and thoughts continuously and focus on their facial expressions and movements at level 3, and ask questions when necessary.
• Do Perspective Taking Exercises : Being prepared for how you can react in a situation by being exposed to different perspectives and role play studies strengthen cognitive empathy.
• Develop Feedback Mechanisms : Receiving regular feedback and sharing will contribute to internalizing the experiences of others.
• Education and Development Programs : Workshops and resource readings for emotional intelligence development (Daniel Goleman - Emotional Intelligence) are beneficial in developing empathy

We are all individuals living in unique worlds with different life stories. However, we need one thing in common to understand and connect with each other: Empathy. Empathy, which is the ability to understand the emotions of others and to think in their shoes, is one of the cornerstones of establishing healthy relationships, being successful in business, and living a happier life. We all need empathy to be applied in a way that prevents misunderstanding and abuse (without causing consequences such as emotional exhaustion).