Empathy and sympathy are two terms that are often used interchangeably. But only one of them allows people to connect deeper than surface level that is empathy. According to the American Psychology Association Dictionary of Psychology, the definitions of sympathy and empathy are as follows:

When we sympathize with someone’s unfortunate situation, we feel bad for them. We have thoughts and feelings about what they are going through but we don’t have a deep understanding of how they are feeling. Empathizing with someone’s circumstances means we are taking the time, effort, and mental space to fully appreciate and understand how they feel. Empathy is a regularly used, but poorly understood, concept. It is confused with related words such as sympathy, pity, mercy, understanding etc. In older times, in my individual childhood and youth it was common practice, we younger people would pay respect to older people and kids, if a neighbour or known person required help, we would rush to help. Wishing pleasantries was common etiquette then. These small deeds kept a community unified and safe. We were more empathetic. Somehow, I cannot use words just to sympathise with somebody. I hate lip sympathy which is expressed in words but that is not shown in actions.

The term “attention seeker” is often used to refer to someone who constantly wants and actively seeks sympathy from others. This behaviour can be evidently seen in various ways, such as constantly sharing personal problems, amplifying difficulties, or using emotional manipulation to gain sympathy. And we see drama of some people who sympathise for the sake of lip sympathy.

When we practice empathy, we dive into the depth of other’s emotions and imagine ourselves in their situation. It is not about how we feel about their experience but rather we are putting ourselves in their shoes, imagining going through what they’re going through and feeling their emotions.

Empathy is shown in how much compassion and understanding we can give to another. Sympathy is more of a feeling of pity for another. Empathy is our ability to understand how someone feels while sympathy is our relief in not having the same problems. Expressing sympathy can seem like saying, ‘I am sorry for you,’ ‘I wish I could do something for you,’ ‘God’s not ben fair with you’ etc…etc.  But expressing empathy feels more like, I understand what you are going through, I want to help you, tell me what can I do for you?

Although both words are used in situations that involve emotions, they cannot be used interchangeably as they have different meanings. The main difference between sympathy and empathy is how we express and experience our emotions toward someone’s situation. 

For instance, if your friend tells you that their dog recently passed away, you sympathize by saying “I’m sorry for your loss.” But if you empathize, you will imagine yourself losing a beloved pet and feeling the grief and loss that come with that experience.

Uninvited Advice vs. Active Listening: When people empathise, they listen carefully, they understand the problem and try to plug it. Sympathizing does not involve feeling emotions; therefore, when we hear about someone’s problem, we immediately feel the urge to fix it because we pity them. We start giving unsolicited advice, without going in depth of someone’s problem. It is easier to advise or give solution rather than validate someone’s experiences. While empathising, we connect deeply to other’s experience. We ask questions to understand, we practice active listening, read their facial expressions and body language and behave sensitively to their needs.

According to Edith Stein, a German phenomenologist (who studies phenomena), empathy can be facilitated. It also can be interrupted and blocked, but it cannot be forced to occur. Why is empathy so unique? According to Stein, empathy happens to us; it is indirectly given to us, it is elemental. When empathy occurs, we find ourselves experiencing it, but we cannot directly cause it to happen to us. This is the characteristic that makes the act of empathy exceptional and therefore it cannot be taught. Instead, promoting attitudes and behaviours such as self-awareness, tolerant, positively regard others, good listening skills, and self-confidence are suggested as important in the development of empathetic attitude. A lot of willingness is required in a person to develop empathetic approach.

The world today needs empaths, but only 1 to 2 percent of the population can feel and absorb the emotions surrounding them.  An empath is like a sponge that absorbs the people’s problems and takes them as his or her own. Empaths have a higher sensitivity to certain people, places, or sounds. Empaths try to help others wholeheartedly. 

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Brands like Apple, Google, Nike, Amazon, and PepsiCo have been established because of practicing and using design thinking to create innovative products. For example, Nike is the best sports company because they have great technology and equipment to boost the performance of the athletes. In basketball shoes, Nike provides cushions and lightweight materials to accommodate the sport.  Design thinking indeed has led to the success of products design and to the operational processes. Innovation is synonymous with design thinking.

In this article, I want to present how design thinking is particularly relevant in the context of Human Resource practices. Quite recently, at Deloitte, the company developed Human Resources solutions that focus on creating a positive employee experience by using Design Thinking principles. These Human Resources solutions have built standard operating procedures (SOPs) and processes that put the employee experience in the centre and by doing so made it simple, gratifying, and fascinating. Deloitte incorporated design thinking elements through digital designs to experience work processes, behavioural economics, and much more. Traditional Human Resources solutions are built around process steps, forms, and formal training. Individual employees want to experience one on one information and interaction in the organization. The previous format of broadcasting information has been discarded and mails are sent to individual employees pertaining to their scope of work and scope to improvise the process.  

Deloitte used Design Thinking to convert Human Resources from a “process developer” to an “experience architect”. From redesigning the physical work environment to optimising the digital workspace and directing how managers use their time, Design Thinking has helped Deloitte reimagine the entire process of hiring, training, engaging, and evaluating employees. Deloitte has invested in their employees, studying how people behave at work to create profiles and personas to model their solutions on. These profiles are specific to the employee demographics, work environment, and the set of challenges they encounter. Ideating and prototyping have enabled the company to come up with quicker solutions and effective tools. Feedback mechanisms based on questionnaires have helped them bring specific requirements to light and facilitate learning and awareness. Few companies are even using agile methodologies to teach people to do less and focus more.

Design thinking is a multi-disciplinary tool. It is non-linear. In the Human Resources context, the principles of design thinking are applied to answer humanistic questions by assuming challenges faced by people and trying to make them easier. Each individual has a different approach to looking at a challenge in the organization; each individual has a different perception. 

Design thinking develops an in-depth understanding of people for whom solutions are being designed and involves them in the process so as to come up with out-of-the-box ideas to enhance their workplace experiences.  It seeks to integrate the skills and methodology of designers from multiple disciplines into a collaborative effort. Multidisciplinary designers need to understand how diverse areas of expertise can come together to solve complex design problems.

While brushing teeth, it’s not easy to reach the deep inside of the mouth, leaving molars and teeth not brushed thoroughly. GE designed an electric toothbrush that made rapid automatic bristle motions, either back-and-forth in rotation in order to clean teeth. A modern electric toothbrush is usually powered by a rechargeable battery charged through inductive charging when the brush sits in the charging base between uses. This is an example of design thinking in production.

Helping people find safe water sources near them is one of the ways in which non-profit tech start-up mWater has improved thousands of lives. mWater apps and software let users find, monitor, and map the quality of water and sanitation sites.  This also helps local authorities detect water infrastructure gaps. Designed for field use, the apps work both online and offline – using the cloud for automatic data syncing when online and GPS for finding locations offline. With over 10,000 active users in 93 countries, mWater already has a database of over 350,000 public and private water sites around the world.

Innovation is at the core of businesses. Delivering differentiated and satisfying customer experiences can lead to a boost in loyalty, market share, and revenues.

Imagine what a similar focus on employee experiences could mean for business. Leading companies are already recognizing that the employee experience is the new battleground for competitive advantage.

Organisations and world economies are constantly evaluating ways and means that can restore balance and help jumpstart slumping livelihoods. In the ongoing Covid pandemic, and at this critical juncture, organisations are leaning on Human Resources (HR) to restore employee morale and boost confidence in the company’s future. Adapting to this rapidly changing environment requires a renovated approach. The Human Resources fraternity has been prompt and agile in shedding the old ways and facing unprecedented challenges with new and innovative ideas. HR plays a crucial role in enabling organisations to transition from working-at-office to working-from-home, almost overnight. In short, the pandemic catapulted HR teams to occupy a seat on the strategy table from being just a support function. 

Design Thinking in Human Resources can enable organizations in understanding, envisioning, and designing how employees experience work, perceiving the employer-employee relationship through talent solution platform, storming, norming and forming ideas quickly with employee experience ideas, and prioritizing action to ensure consistent employee experience as described in team development by Bruce Tuckman.

It is difficult for organisations to attract and retain talent. Regardless of a company’s location or size, attracting and retaining talent at the top, middle and bottom positions. Employee expectations are racketing up against Human Resources as comparisons are made to frictionless customer experience outside of the office. Organisations are expecting the Human Resources teams to build agility in the internal and external environment. Organizations demand Human Resources to help in making better decision making, for giving actionable insights, increasing creativity in all processes for making better people decisions. How can Human Resources help the organisation, its employees, and themselves?

Changing the expectations of customers require new ways of thinking about people and designing people management strategies. Design thinking helps in this area.  Design thinking and design research help in making strategic decisions at many levels. This is an example of how AirBnB’s strategic team uses data to address current user experience challenges on the social media platform. The year 2009 was tough for Airbnb as it was very close to going bust. The start-up registering only $200 per week as revenue and were nowhere close to making a sustainable business out of their initiative. The founders noticed a pattern that all their listings in New York had poor images and it was very difficult for customers to see what they would be paying for. One of them – Graham suggested a completely non-scalable and a non-technical solution to the problem. He advised travelling to New York, renting a camera, visiting all the properties to take good quality images and replace the old amateur images with the new high resolution and beautiful ones. Even though the resolution was not backed by data, the results were amazing. After improving the quality of images for the listings, the revenue generated rose to $400 per week. Design thinking requires strong backup data as well as customer feedback.

Design Thinking enables Human Resources to think beyond the typical process and pragmatic approach to service delivery and focus instead on the experience and outcomes that it is looking to drive. The principles of repetition, trying, failing, retrying, and improving are critical to success in design thinking. It cannot be a do it once approach, where one solution is rolled out, the program ends, and then for years it’s never improved or assessed.

Design Thinking is based on understanding the in-depth needs of different stakeholder profiles; to conduct design thinking is to firmly put your feet in the shoes of your stakeholder. This is why empathy is a crucial element of the practice. Its goal is to generate solutions that bring value to all stakeholders. In the case of Human Resources, this could be the managers, employees, or candidates that experience any part of the Human Resources process.

Since Human Resources primarily handles the recruitment, employment experience, and the exit process of employees and represents the company, understanding human needs and executing accordingly becomes crucial. In Human Resources design thinking focuses on building a structure, a design for operations that would align the goals of the company with its employees. It starts by building the problem statement to find ways of resolving that. In most organisations, a fast-paced work environment demands quick solutions to the challenges of humans. Unlike machines, humans are after all, not engineered to deliver automated accurate results around the clock. Innovation is the only way to meet this challenge and design thinking is capable of driving that innovation. Tim Brown, one of the pioneers of Design Thinking believes that “leading through questions” is the best way to drive innovation. Questions bring us closer to stakeholder requirements and help us understand the scope of improvement. In the following areas of Human Resources let’s see how design thinking helps:

Human Resources Planning

Human Resources planning involves recruiting, selecting, hiring, and training the right candidates to make them ready for the job. This is one of the crucial processes for any company since it builds the branding for them. Design thinking can optimise this process by incorporating empathy. It can help recruiters to create a welcoming environment for new recruits at the company. Continuous interaction between both employer and employee seeking the job opportunity helps set expectations. Empathy will also help the HR team to identify any intrinsic challenges and address them. Ideation, another crucial step in design thinking encourages users to be creative and think of newer ways of addressing an issue. Interactive sessions and understanding the core characteristic of employee is vital to innovation. Human Resources teams must discard conventional approaches for driving innovation in recruitment policies.

Continuous Performance Management

Performance management aims at recognising the meaningful work that employees do and rewarding that appropriately. Employees feel elated when their good work is lauded by the organization. For understanding the human potential, organizations must have measurable Human Resources tools for assessing performance. Employees like to get recognition for their talent and domain knowledge. Design Thinking can make this process more effective by using tools of surveys to connect and empathise with the employees and understand their concerns and expectations. The Human Resources teams in organizations must keep updating their performance management policies and tools.  

Retention policies

A sense of belonging is most important for human relations. When employees feel that they are cared for by the organization they put in more effort; when they are appreciated, their productivity augments. The Human Resources department is responsible for maintaining a harmonious relationship between the employees and the company. The biggest problem is faced when organisations don’t have clear communication channels with employees. Lack of a proper communication channel can lead to various issues and misunderstandings. Employees must stay well connected with the organization. Design Thinking can enhance this process with an empathy-driven approach towards issues that concern both parties. By using the design thinking methods, the Human Resources team can assess problematic situations with good solutions that pacify both equally. 

Compensation

Compensation and benefits comprise a large part of what the HR department handles. Right from the time a candidate joins a company, gets promoted to the time he quits or retires, the Human Resources department reviews and updates his/her compensation. Design thinking methods can help the Human Resources team to understand the requirements and expectations of the employees and the budgets of the employers and optimise the compensation accordingly in cash and kind. Even while designing policies, empathy-driven approach can help formulate policies that meet the needs of the employees and truly benefit them.

Employee engagement

This is a priority area for HR. Design thinking can offer a variety of practices to create inspiring workplaces. There are many organizations that make work place environment fun-filled. The tagline “all work and no play make Jack a dull boy” is brought into practice. Monthly/Quarterly outings, monthly get-togethers, recreation nights, pipe music played during work hours are some examples of how employees are kept entertained. User-friendly IT systems, weekly changing canteen foods made as per choice, and some other welfare practices are some ways of cooperation in which the employee feels cared for. The aim is to improve engagement, creativity, and productivity. Empathy is a basic requirement of design thinking.

Design thinking is at core of innovation

Many organizations fail to create innovative work culture. Design thinking helps in infusing innovation culture in organizations. Some organizations have succeeded. One such organization is 3M Technologies. In 1968, Spencer Silver, a scientist at 3M’s headquarters was working to create a strong adhesive. Accidentally, he developed a new material that was light enough to easily remove and peel apart. Silver felt that he had invented something unique and useful but struggled to find what that use could be. Another employee Art Fry used Spencer’s adhesive to anchor his bookmark in his hymn book which became one of the stellar products of 3M. A few years later Fry utilized 3M’s sanctioned “permitted bootlegging” policy to develop the idea. Design thinking flourishes on empathy, expansive thinking, and experimentation.

Conclusion

Modern Human Resources and design thinking go hand. Employee experience is most important in employee value proposition and retention. It helps engaging employees more actively in organisational change and by creating an environment and experiences that inspire people and make them more creative and productive.

As we face off the biggest pandemic in today’s modern memory, which is literally doctored and engineered in China, the fact is millions of lives are lost and life world is facing a chaos and disruption. Global economy is gone for a toss as never before. This pandemic is above all human crisis that calls for camaraderie. It has taught the world many lessons and one such lesson is about business ethics which starts with ethical communication.   

The importance of ethical communications has never been clearer. Much of the debate around media ethics in recent years has focused on far-reaching questions why business is important. The global COVID-19 pandemic has pushed ethical considerations back to the basics. Concerns about governmental transparency and corporate responsibility have become a fresh urgency. The implications are more immediate and those working in the media, now more than ever, have a responsibility for their role in shaping public debate.

As businesses go about their work, managers must continue to ask themselves whether it is their responsibility to communicate as they are. 

Businesses have a challenge on their hands. In an atmosphere of financial uncertainty, they have difficult decisions, first to make and then to communicate. They will have to consider both internal and external stakeholders. They must address concerns about safety and hygiene. They must clarify what they are doing in terms of business continuation and protocol. Before they get into the nitty-gritty of messaging, outreach and marketing spend, they must consider the ethical dimension of what they do.

With the global coronavirus outburst, business world is now grappling with ethical communication demanded by their consumers. The big brands of world are increasingly being tested for their moral backbone. Alert and observant consumers are refusing to support companies who are not honest in keeping their promises and are turning a blind eye to the complaints of customers. The Covid 19 pandemic has harnessed the power of social media like never before; customers are able to hold organizations directly and evidently accountable.

Prior to the pandemic, a paradigm shift towards digitization of the economy was already underway. The current scenario has accelerated the paradigm, as evidenced by the marked shift in spending towards digital businesses. As customers are already facing autonomy due to the virus, no longer they are willing to allow brands stay silent. They have a platform and a stronger network to discuss their issues.

The major principles governing communications, the correct and incorrect aspects of the same, the moral and immoral dimensions relevant to the communication are called ethics of communication. In other words, communication ethics is the notion that human beings are governed by morals which essentially affects communication. Simply any kind of moral good present in communication of any form is generally termed as communication ethics. It is important that whatever we communicate should be guided by certain ethical principles.

Amazon has been a crowned winner during the Covid crisis because its sales have soared due to the shutting of bricks-and-mortar shops and malls. It’s also interesting to note that its share price has risen by more than a third in the past few months. And, yet Amazon has been bitterly criticized although the most serious accusations are made against it the US and France rather than the UK. In France all Amazon warehouses were temporarily closed after a huge row about worker safety. In the US Amazon experienced lot of workers quitting due to over warehouse safety and conditions. Many of its workers pledged to stay home in protest because Amazon has failed to provide face masks, and has refused to pay sick leave (the US is one of the few wealthy countries in which companies are not required to), is not allowing workers proper time to wash their hands, and that too many people are working at once to allow for proper social distancing. The fight intensified after Amazon fired four workers who had publicly criticized safety measures. In progressive countries such as Us, UK and France customers gauge the behavior of companies. 

Even in India in a survey conducted by EY Earnest & Young presents response in favor of ethical communication. For example, at the onset of COVID-19 in India, an MNC promised its employees that the organization would retain all its employees during the hardship period but later started firing endless numbers of employees’ right from the lowest to the topmost rung of the ladder. This is a clear breach of trust and faith, no one who is still with the organization will ever trust the employer come what may. Any organization which breaches trust of any of its stakeholders, finds it difficult to get back the trust. Another survey conducted by Deloitte reports that employees do not need a perfect company but just want transparency and truthfulness more than anything else.

Ethical communication always helps organization in admitting openly that they fell short of their goals, they have committed some mistakes, which in long run lead to huge improvements and positive changes for the future which help to garner support from all stakeholders.

It is so important to acknowledge that clients cannot be cheated in the present problematic times; it is better to inform them the truth only. One of the news items in Miami News Times reported that a popular cruise line recently misled its guests about COVID-19 by having sales staff tell them the only thing they needed to worry about for their upcoming cruise was bringing enough sunscreen. The cruise line ignored the pandemic and the associated safety measures which the clients are worried about. Most of the customers who had booked for the cruise did not appreciate the irresponsible behavior of the cruise liner staff, and they decided to drop out of the cruise. Their response is a perfect example of what not to do during such difficult times. This response caused a media storm that generated negative press for the cruise line.

In acknowledging the current times, organizations can establish and build trust and confidence with others that can have a long-lasting impact. Avoiding the truth is bad practice for any business and providing relevant updates won’t cause a panic. When the state of the world returns to normal, individuals will remember how businesses responded to the pandemic and during this time of need.

The pandemic that has taken over our daily lives, businesses and society at large are forcing us to rethink how we react during times of crisis. Practicing empathy in statements, newsletters, social media announcements and other avenues of communication can help establish rapport with customers. It shows that businesses care. However, having empathy goes beyond a written statement.  It must be practiced in action. While many businesses choose to address COVID-19 solely online, on social media or with e-newsletters, it has been observed that organizations that pitch clients for stories on how to stay afloat throughout this pandemic, are appreciated the most. For instance, offering a client spokesperson for TV news segments to provide expert insight or resourceful information on what they are doing to stay in business can set an example for similar companies.

Conclusion: In a sea of statements, social media announcements and email newsletters, making presence felt is difficult. This is where sincere and realistic communication matters.

We all sensible people in world agree that good relationships are the foundation for success in all areas of our life. But, rarely do we realise that it begins with our relationship with our own self. If we do not love our own self completely with all the strengths and weaknesses by ensuring whether our own needs are met or not, we will find it difficult to accept others, love others and help out other around us.

Your relationship with yourself is arguably the most important relationship in life. Self-relationship is the foundation of everything else including philanthropy.  One’s relationship with oneself is crucial and needs to be built like many other relationships in life.  Healthy self-love is most essential. How you value yourself as a person, how you embrace yourself with all the good and the bad in you, your self-relationship, how much you trust yourself is very important in building your life and relationships with others in your life. Ironically, the most selfless thing you can do is to be self-cantered.

The time you spend with yourself is very important; spending time alone is actually a good thing for building your relationship with yourself. Some crucial studies have shown that having more me time has benefits such as increasing productivity, contentment, gratitude and empathy. It doesn’t matter what you do in that me time, as long as you are doing it alone. Please understand that me time does not mean trying to change the way we live our lives for other people. It means allowing ourselves to be truly seen for who we are. It means letting go of feeling that we have to be someone that we are not or trying to speak or act in a way that doesn’t feel affiliated for us.

Me time is a term which has been popularized by all forms of the media geared towards issues of female interest, more particularly in women’s magazines. The idea is that, amidst the stress of 21st century life, a woman finds it increasingly difficult to spend time which is exclusively for her and is not intruded upon by the non-stop demands of work and family. Me time, is a period of time when a woman can put herself first and do something that she particularly enjoys to aid relaxation and revival. This might be as simple as having a bubble bath, sitting down with a cup of tea, listening to some most precious songs, painting or drawing, or going on a trip to the gym or a weekend away. Though not used exclusively with reference to women, this term lies heavily in the female domain. But, it is also means equally the same for men.

The time a person has to himself or herself, in which to do something for his or her own enjoyment is refreshing. Unplug yourself, ban all electronics, social media, email and phone calls for a set amount of time, and instead read a book or magazine, go for a walk, or simply stare out the window and daydream.

Being alone can help you build mental strength. Solitude is important. Studies show the ability to tolerate alone time has been linked to increased happiness and improved stress management. People who enjoy alone time experience less depression. Can you imagine how many people are scared to live alone and therefore they cling on to wrong relationships? This is a fact.  

Me-time increases empathy. It increases your productivity.  Although many organizations offices have started creating open floor plans so everyone can communicate more easily, some studies show being surrounded by people kills productivity. People perform better when they are left alone in their privacy.

Me-time helps you to plan your life. It helps you to know yourself better. Being alone helps you become more comfortable in your own skin. When you are by yourself, you can make choices without outside influences. And that will help you develop better insight about who you are as a person. Start scheduling me-time as often as you can.

The human mind is the most powerful tool that we possess. It can do positive as well as negative wonders. The placebo effect is defined as a phenomenon that influences beneficially in illness, failures, despair etc. It is attributable to the brain–mind responses to stimuli we receive from some people or some objects in our life. The placebo effect is more famous in medical context; it is a substance with no known medical effects, such as sterile water, saline solution, or a sugar pill, alternative therapies such as reiki, pranik healing. People follow some Gurus some follow soothsayers because they get Placebo Effect.

The fact is that placebo reduces negative emotions which in turn decrease pain, anxiety and despair. I am talking here about placebo leadership. Leadership is not an easy task; it doesn’t happen just by itself. Placebo leaders are empathetic. Empathetic leaders understand the needs of others; they are aware of people’s feelings.

Nelson Mandela was the first democratically elected President of South Africa. He was the face and leader of the Anti-Apartheid movement, relentlessly fighting against racial discrimination all through his life. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for conspiring to overthrow the state following the Rivonia Trial. His tremendous focus, determination, and will dismantled the apartheid, Mandela come out as a champion and lead his country into having an equal and free future. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by tackling institutionalised racism and fostering racial reconciliation. I call Nelson Mandela a placebo leader.

Placebo leaders make encouraging impact on their people. They maintain communication and show up during periods of uncertainty.  Even when there is not much to say, keeping a regular pulse of communication, especially face to face, provides reassurance and consistency. Visibility of leaders in crucial times is comforting. During the Corona virus pandemic it is observed that women-led countries have tackled the pandemic much better. Seven countries in the world where women are heading the nations, have tackled Covid 19 tactfully.  Their empathetic leadership has cautiously tackled the situation. Those seven countries have lowest numbers of casualties.

Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand could practically wiped out Covid 19 by end of May 2020. She gives the credit to the spirit and discipline followed by her citizens.  Germany, led by Angela Merkel, has lowest death rates than other Euro Nations. Sanna Martin, the young Prime Minister all of 34, of Finland governs with a coalition of four female-led parties, has had fewer than 10 percent as many deaths as compared to Sweden. And, Tsai Ing-wen, the President of Taiwan, has presided over one of the most successful efforts in the world at containing the virus, using testing, contact tracing and isolation measures to control infections without a full national lockdown.

Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland has successfully brought down the death rate by Covid-19 in Iceland. In Norway, Prime Minister Erna Solberg is using technology to the fullest use to track isolated patients. The patients don’t feel lonely.  The current Prime Minister of Denmark is Mette Frederiksen closed her country’s borders on 13 March. A few days later she closed kindergartens, schools and universities and banned gatherings of more than 10 people. Her decisiveness appears to have spared Denmark the worst of the pandemic: its death toll stands at less than 250, and the number of patients being treated in hospital for Covid-19 is falling drastically. Placebo modulates emotions via verbal information.

The worst effects are seen in such times when rumour mills spread alarming information. But when people get the chance to ask questions themselves to find out what points their leaders are making, when they are asked how they are feeling and when they get regular information and hard facts from the Government agencies they feel comfortable. Possibly the biggest impact of sustained communication is on trust which is a crucial commodity during change. 

I call Ratan Tata also a placebo leader. The 82-year-old leader of Tata Trust donated a massive sum of Rs.500 crores for fighting Covid-19 crisis calling it as ‘one of the toughest challenges that the human race will face’. Ratan Tata is well known for his philanthropy, shared the note from his charitable organisation. He captioned the post, “Tata Trusts and Tata group companies have in the past raised to the needs of the nation. At this moment, the need of the hour is greater than any other time.” On 26 November 2008, in a series of attacks in Mumbai, when Taj Mahal Palace hotel was attacked, destroying the interiors, killing of guests, including the destruction of the hotel’s roof in the shootout, it’s worth a mention here that Mr.Ratan Tata went all out to care for each and every employee of the hotel to help them recoup from the shock. All categories of employees including those who had completed even 1 day as casuals were treated during the time the hotel was closed. During the time the hotel was closed, the salaries were sent by money orders. Employees were treated like family members.

I get tired of hearing about soft skills as most important skills required for effective leadership. Please note that U.S Army Field Manual on Leadership Development is one of the best sources on leadership, insists repeatedly that empathy is essential for competent leadership. Without empathy, one cannot build or nurture followers.  Devoid of compassion one cannot inspire followers or elicit loyalty. Empathy is most essential in negotiations of any kind.

Empathy is a regularly used, but poorly understood, concept. It is confused with related words such as sympathy, pity, mercy, understanding etc. In older times, in my distinctive youth it was common to see younger people would pay respect to older people and kids, if a neighbor or known person required help, we would rush to help. Wishing pleasantries was common etiquette then. These small deeds kept a community unified and pretty safe.

But, as we have started living in more globalized society, a lot of these social conventions are diluted and lost. We have become more self-centered, and less bothered about our surroundings. In an age of super fast internet communication, we are no longer bounded by our own community and we are witnessing a big change of people have stopped bothering for their culture and societal norms.

Empathy is described in dictionary as ‘the action of understanding; to be aware of somebody’s pain or distress, being sensitive to another person’. It also means vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of others.

Can empathy be taught? NO. An Empath is born and not created. Empathy is a genetic trait. According to Edith Stein, a German phenomenologist, empathy can be facilitated. It also can be interrupted and blocked, but it cannot be forced to occur. Why is empathy so unique? According to Stein, empathy happens to us; it is indirectly given to us, it is elemental. When empathy occurs, we find ourselves experiencing it, but we cannot directly cause it to happen to us. This is the characteristic that makes the act of empathy exceptional and therefore it cannot be taught. Instead, promoting attitudes and behaviors such as self-awareness, tolerant, positively regard others, good listening skills, and self-confidence are suggested as important in the development of empathetic attitude. A lot of willingness is required in a person to develop empathetic approach.

According to Daniel Goleman – author of emotional intelligence, empathy is defined as understanding the emotional makeup of people and, treating people according to their emotional reactions.  Goleman and other emotional intelligence researchers have constantly identified empathy as a core component of emotional intelligence and a powerful interpreter of success in many professions. Empathy helps us to develop deep levels of rapport and trust.

People who have poor empathy skills are not good team players at work place. They cannot make good leaders and they are disastrous in a team. It can lead to conflict due to lower understanding of other’s feelings, misinterpretation of action leading to misunderstanding.  Without empathy we feel lonely within a relationship. Lack of empathy can cause organizations to make terrible blunders that isolate their customers, suppliers or employees and it can even provoke hostility inside and outside the organization.

It is important to understand that some people though they feel empathetic, have trouble with displaying their abilities. For instance, some adults would shrivel from offering a wounded person first aid, not because they are merciless but because they have trouble coping with their own emotional reactions to the other person’s plight. Empathy is displayed in various degrees; with practice and an understanding of psychology, we can probably develop stronger empathic skills. Empathy is a gift most people have, to varying degrees.

The development of empathy begins very early in life. The seeds for empathy are planted by receptive parenting during the infant-toddler period. Empathy then begins to grow during preschool. However, it is during the elementary school years that empathy either takes root or becomes a way of life or emotional insensitivity sets in. Empathetic teens and adults really blossom and give joy to those around them. Society tries to avoid those people who lack empathy.

I recall a beautiful and popular song; its lyrics go like this, “I feel sad when you’re sad, I feel glad when you’re glad, if you only knew what I’m going through, I just can’t smile without you.” This song describes empathy for the loved ones.