A Thought for the Week: Empathy

In light of recent news about troubled employees taking action against the companies they work for, I wanted to bring a thought to the table.

Even in my experience in the corporate world, what I never really saw was empathy. The non-Danny-Christian definition of empathy is:

"The action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another."

The Danny Christian definition is: love, treat, relate, and respond to others as you would respond to yourself — not as you would have them respond to you. We cannot have true empathy for others unless we first have true empathy for ourselves.

The World We're Working In

In this new world, everybody is fighting against old norms. Everybody is struggling. Everybody is angry, frustrated, running hard — and still feels like they're not getting anywhere. For many of the people on our team, this isn't their only job. It's their second or third. Just to make it.

Because we all work so much, work becomes like a second home. And that changes everything about what leadership means.

How Can We Make Work Feel Like a Second Home?

At Environment Control, we try to do our part. We'll help cover that $125 brake change, oil change, or tire — because removing a small financial stress matters. We understand when someone calls off for a family event, as long as it's not abused, and we pay them for it. It's out of their control. So why wouldn't we?

But maybe the biggest thing — for all of us as leaders — is learning the difference between responding and reacting.

People may come at you guns blazing. But in most cases, you are not the problem. You just became the target for something else entirely. And when we understand that, we can lead from a different place.

Practice Empathy. It Will Win Every Time.

It won't always be easy. But it is always worth it.

— Danny Christian
Environment Control of Albuquerque