I was visiting a friend at her concierge desk a couple of days ago when she showed me a quote she has hanging behind her desk:
She told me it has helped her to understand and have patience with people throughout her career. I instantly related to the quote by my favorite writer, Anonymous, as a way to garner more empathy whenever I am working with customers and clients.
Working with people hour after hour, day after day can test one’s ability to be empathetic, patient and understanding. I for one am guilty of not suffering fools gladly and have diligently worked on expressing true empathy to all types of people in all sorts of situations. Considering people as incompetent leads us to a negative place that can be demoralizing and unempowering for the people we may be consciously or unconsciously judging. By holding out the possibility that there are unfortunate circumstances that created what one might deem as incompetent allows for engagement and positive change. It is important to understand this and get there in any way one can.
Empathy leads to kindness and kindness leads to connection and connection leads to loyalty and loyalty leads to profit. Even in the most altruistic of businesses, without profit there is no business. And every business exchange affords an opportunity to deliver quality service that makes a positive impact on a person’s life.