Out of the fog, onto the cloud: A Softway self-assessment and guide

An unprecedented business landscape 

Health concerns. Unstable markets. Remote work challenges. Shifting political and social tides. Companies have never faced so much tumult in such a short period of time. And while these challenges affect our businesses as a whole&mdash;they also have an impact on our people, individually.&nbsp;

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Common remote team performance issues in 2020:

<ul>
	<li>&nbsp;Underperforming individuals</li>
	<li>Disconnected teams</li>
	<li>The challenge of delivering and receiving feedback remotely</li>
	<li>A sense of high stress and anxiety</li>
</ul>

As we battle new external forces, our teams are looking to us&mdash;their leaders&mdash;for guidance and compassion. At the same time, the livelihood of the businesses we serve is depending on us to remain outcome-focused.

Let&rsquo;s talk empathy&nbsp;

Changing the culture inside your company is no small feat. While it may not be the right time to embark on a full-scale culture change strategy, one way you can start making incremental progress is to focus on building empathy inside your organization.&nbsp;Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. It&rsquo;s a simple idea that&rsquo;s often misunderstood. Let&rsquo;s look at what empathy is and what it isn&rsquo;t, in a practical way.

The difference between sympathy and empathy 

Empathy often conjures the word sympathy, and vice versa. While many people use them interchangeably, these are two separate concepts. Let&rsquo;s look at the high-level differences.&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Sympathy: Sympathy is an intellectual understanding of what someone has gone through, often accompanied by pity, guilt, sadness, or sorrow</li>
	<li>Empathy:&nbsp;Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else&rsquo;s shoes&mdash;regardless of whether you have shared a specific experience or not.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

It should be noted: sympathy isn&rsquo;t a bad thing. In fact, we can use feelings like sadness, pity, or guilt that often accompany sympathy as a way to start identifying opportunities for connection. Empathy, on the other hand, is a mindset we can use to know how to help someone. Putting empathy to work is deliberate and takes practice.

Are you missing the value of empathy in your business? 

From helping employees better manage stress to breaking groups out of their silos for new ideas&mdash; there are many ways empathy can help improve your organization, starting right now.&nbsp;To help you get it right&mdash;let&rsquo;s talk about how we often get it wrong Here are a few common missteps when it comes to bringing empathy into your business&mdash;and what you can do to solve them.

Situation 1: A team member seems stressed out and frazzled&mdash;and it&rsquo;s starting to impact morale and productivity.

Sympathetic leaders say: &ldquo;Let me know what I can do to help.&rdquo;&nbsp;

Empathetic leaders say: &ldquo;I know there&rsquo;s a lot on your plate, and I want to make sure you have everything you need to be successful. I&rsquo;ve set up a quick one-on-one with you to go over tasks and see if there&rsquo;s anything we can redistribute.&rdquo;

Leadership insights: As leaders, it&rsquo;s our job to have a pulse on the morale, engagement, and stress levels of our teams. If you&rsquo;re sensing someone needs your help, that&rsquo;s great! That&rsquo;s the beginning of empathy in action. Where it goes wrong: offering to &ldquo;help&rdquo; with bland, general statements about being there if a team member &ldquo;needs anything.&rdquo; As a leader, you need to use your legitimate power to understand specific work challenges, remove obstacles, and make a clear path toward meeting those goals. Otherwise&mdash;you&rsquo;re asking someone to do mental work that they&rsquo;re not in a place to do.&nbsp;

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To keep reading, download the ebook now.

An unprecedented business landscape Health concerns. Unstable markets. Remote work challenges. Shifting political and social tides. Companies have never faced so much tumult in such a short period of time. And while these challenges affect our businesses as a whole—they also have an impact on our people, individually. Common remote team performance issues in 2020: Underperforming individuals Disconnected teams The challenge of delivering and receiving feedback remotely A sense of high stress and anxiety As we battle new external forces, our tea

In this ebook, you’ll find: Why it’s more effective to lead with empathy than sympathy, Common leadership missteps—and how to correct them now and Resources to help you and your team adapt to 2020.

Leadership In A Crisis