Written by What makes good leadership?
Charisma comes to mind. Communication and organizational skills; the ability to influence and delegate; confidence, integrity, accountability, empowerment.
All of these characteristics make for an exceptional leader.
But perhaps one of the most important attributes when working in a cross-cultural environment is empathy.
Putting Yourself in Another’s Shoes
Emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and empathy regularly emerge as principal attributes of those who facilitate cross-cultural relations.
“the psychological identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.”
When you put yourself in another’s shoes, you start to identify with their beliefs or their actions.
You attempt to understand from multiple perspectives, drawing on different cultural backgrounds and the complex nature of human lives.
How Does Empathy Differ From Sympathy?
Sympathy is sometimes used interchangeably with empathy, but they are not one and the same.
When you sympathize with someone, it means you share their feelings; you commiserate with their grief, sorrow, or misfortune.
Often, you offer compassion and comfort simply by acknowledging the person’s difficulties.
“Thoughts and prayers.”
“Sorry for your loss.”
“Thinking of you.”
These are offerings of sympathy.
Empathy, on the other hand, goes a step beyond.
“In Feeling”
From the Greek, “empatheia,” the word is a combination of the prefix, “en,” and the root, “pathos,” meaning “in” and “feeling.”
So, empathy literally means “in feeling.”
When you empathize, not only are you commiserating with someone else’s hardship, you’re taking their feelings upon yourself, feeling what they feel, assuming the emotional anguish or hardship of said individual.
John Steinbeck described the power of empathy, writing,
“You can only understand people if you feel them in yourself.”
As you can probably recognize, empathy in cross-cultural relations is a powerful tool.
When entering a foreign culture, you must be able and willing to understand your colleagues or staff by feeling them in yourself.
Once you empathize and relate to their experiences, you are better positioned to understand their mentality and behavior.
Understanding will help you better navigate any conflicts that arise with individuals or groups.
And that empathy goes both ways.
As a foreign manager, you are the monkey.
So, you can only hope that your colleagues do you the same courtesy by putting themselves in your shoes and trying to understand your foreign ways.
Thus, both sides will observe the golden rule, “treat others as you would like to be treated,” which is what empathy is all about.
Next week, we’ll offer ways in which you can develop this important trait.
Success Across Cultures 