Don't Let Your Empathy Temper Your Truth

Empathy is a vital quality in leadership and sales. Having the capacity to both understand and respond to another person’s perspective has untold positive benefits.

I believe that overall my empathy has served me well, but throughout my career there have been times when my empathy has created internal struggles with how to deliver a challenging message. I would “feel” the message from the perspective of the recipient and then struggle with the right words or how to make the message land without discomfort. In my worst moments, my equivocation would lead to delays and the message would go undelivered.

The pain of those stark leadership failures drove me to dig deeper into my empathy in an effort to leverage it constructively without it becoming an obstacle. My mantra became, “Don’t let your empathy temper your truth.”

Over time, this mindset empowered me to better communicate my conscience in each required moment. At the same time, I learned to trust that my empathy was inherently present in my words and approach in both uplifting and challenging settings. Finding that balance was a breakthrough for me.

How do you both leverage and manage your empathy?