Practical empathy
- By : Wong Mei Ying
- Category : Lawyering, Linkedin Post
Practical empathy.
ππ©π¦ π΄π¬πͺππ π°π§ πΆπ―π₯π¦π³π΄π΅π’π―π₯πͺπ―π¨ π΅π©π’π΅ π±π¦π°π±ππ¦ π₯π°π―βπ΅ π¬π―π°πΈ πΈπ©π’π΅ πΊπ°πΆ π¬π―π°πΈ, π₯π°π―βπ΅ πΈπ’π―π΅ πΈπ©π’π΅ πΊπ°πΆ πΈπ’π―π΅, π₯π°π―βπ΅ π΄π¦π¦ πΈπ©π’π΅ πΊπ°πΆ π΄π¦π¦. ππ©π¦πΊ π©π’π·π¦ π’ π―π°πͺπ΄π¦ πͺπ― π΅π©π¦πͺπ³ π©π¦π’π₯ π΅π©π’π΅βπ΄ π₯πͺπ§π§π¦π³π¦π―π΅ π΅π©π’π― π΅π©π¦ π―π°πͺπ΄π¦ πͺπ― πΊπ°πΆπ³ π©π¦π’π₯ π’π―π₯ π΅π©π’π΅βπ΄ π°π¬π’πΊ.
I heard Seth Godin mentioned something along these lines in a podcast. I find myself keep going back to these words.
Itβs something that I wish I have understood early in my career. That would have saved me a lot of frustration when:
– a corporate exercise dragged on for years for reasons beyond my control
– fees were discounted but that did not stop emails marked with high importance and with the word βππΏπ΄π²π»πβ and deadlines specified in bold, from landing in my inbox in the early hours and Fridays
– others called for back-to-back meetings on the same day for the same project with no tangible outcome after the meetings but more minutes of meetings to be prepared
(or when the honking from vehicles stuck in heavy traffic on a rainy late afternoon in Kuala Lumpur got so loud that the lawyer on the other side of the phone commented about it when I called while I was seated several floors above ground level)
My experience is not unique. Itβs all in a dayβs work of a corporate lawyer.
Having practical empathy (and some self-compassion) goes a long way.
This post first appeared on Linkedin on 28 April 2022.
