- CA Madhukar N Hiregange

Building Empathy –For Extraordinary Success Professionally

Coverage Today

• Understanding the term
• Instances ?
• Skills for leaders?
• Introspection leads
• Gen info
• Advantages?
• How to Build?

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Mindtool def:

 Empathy is the ability to identify with and understand

the wants, needs, and viewpoints of those around you. People with empathy are good at recognizing the feelings of others, even when those feelings may not be obvious. As a result, empathetic people are usually excellent at managing relationships, listening, and relating to others. They avoid stereotyping and judging too quickly, and they live their lives in a very open, honest way.

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Illustration

• When can we said to have empathy? Please reflect on examples from your professional life…..

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Skills for Extraordinary Leaders

• Coaching Self & Team
• Effective/ persuasive Communication – Aristotle - Empathy necessary to be built
• Illustrative activity - Timing:
• Enquiry & Response: Acknowledgement, understand the need and restate for clarity, quote clearly scope of both, get additional documents/ info to do the job, deliver more than what is sought, in time promised, follow up to see that it is/can be implemented/ suggest ways/ means
• Confirmation: Clarity on all issues restated with thanks for the opportunity to serve
• Exceed expectation, delight the client

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Understanding the business, common challenges, problem of client.

See bigger picture- impact from vendor to customer of client

All this requires empathy at time of info collection

Indication of need to improve empathy

• Please introspect and from you experience in dealing with clients suggest what could be the situation which suggest that we need to improve our empathy?
• Look from instances where there were delays in:
• Client not keeping his word to provide/ be ready with information?
• Lying about being ready – asking you to come for audit?
• Postponing the scheduled work due to extension?
• ….

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Indication of need to have empathy

1. Are we rehearsing the reply or communicate our decision while client is explaining?
2. Are we interrupting him?
3. Are we distracted by calls, people coming into room, notifications?
4. Are we not catching the unsaid needs of client?
5. Are we blaming the client staff for lack of response?
6. Do our mails contain proper salutation, acknowledgment for opportunity/ support provided for our assignment, understanding of persons challenges?

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Indication of need to have empathy

h. Is there impatience in our tone of communication?

i. Are we putting ourselves in the position/ shoes of the staff? Understand his/her challenges?

j. Are we able to preempt needs?

k. Are we directing/ telling or providing alternatives?

l. Are we being judgmental?

m. Are supporting the knowledge gaps of the staff?

n. Are we taking feedback genuinely to improve our service?

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Empathy Ranking out of 170 – few yr back

• Linked In
• Facebook
• Alphabet
• Microsoft
• Nike, Audi,
• ITC ( 69)
• Infosys / Tata Motors ( 115)

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Listens and responds to customers complaints- quickly resolves (preempts their needs) + empowered staff

Impact- Valuation of Company= G- 1trillion, Microsoft – 791b

Attracts the best talent

What could be the advantages ?

• From enquiry till end of assignment – example of best empathic practices – please reflect and note….

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What could be the other advantages?

Client would co-operate- saving us time

Refer us to others

Give us more work- wallet share

Since we value him- he will value us

We could extend to our team/ juniors – be more effective

We would become extraordinary professionals/ firm

Credibility of the profession increased

Contribution to nation

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 Famous Quotes

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“Leadership is about Empathy. It is about having the ability to relate to and connect with people for the purpose of inspiring and empowering their lives.” - Oprah Winfrey

�Empathy is patiently and sincerely seeing the world through the other person’s eyes. It is not learned in school; it is cultivated over a lifetime. - Albert Einstein

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John Connoly observes “the nature of humanity, its essence, is to feel another's pain as one's own, and to act to take that pain away.”

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Inculcating/ Improving Empathy

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More measures to improve..

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How We can Build Empathy- in e-mails?

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1. Can I draft a mail calling them to action?
2. Can I thank the clients for the opportunity given?
3. Can I thank them for the support provided?
4. Can I make communication clear and specific?
5. Can I end up every communication with confirmation that I am there to serve them?
6. Some more….

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Consistency in our clients service with value addition would delight clients

THANK YOU

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For any clarification

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madhukar@hnaindia.com

mnhire63@gmail.com

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