Empathic listening: keys to understanding this skill and why it matters

These are the characteristics of empathic listening that make it an important skill.

As is well known, hearing is not the same as listening; and to achieve a deep understanding of what someone is telling us, as well as successful communication, it is necessary to fully engage with the other person, with their specific needs and approaches.

In this sense, empathic listening is an indispensable element to relate properly and efficiently with our environment: both when dealing with the people around us and also to learn from our mistakes when interacting with the rest of society, reconsider our point of view and improve as people.

What is empathic listening?

One of the key concepts to take into account when enhancing our social skills is empathy.. This is a set of aptitudes and skills that allow us both to recognize emotional states in others and to adapt to them by assuming the value of that set of feelings that, although we do not experience directly, are of great importance to us as well, as we share a space with those people.

Thus, being empathic implies not only making relatively accurate estimates about what others feel, but also adopting a constructive attitude towards that psychological reality that we perceive in others, seeking points of fit between our own and that of those people.

With what we have seen so far, we can now begin to understand what empathic listening is all about; it is the ability to actively attend to and understand another personWe also take into account their feelings, emotions, non-verbal language and all the implications and subtexts that the message they transmit to us may have.

This ability allows us to put ourselves in the place of our interlocutor and deeply analyze both his intentions and needs, as well as his internal emotional reality: his possible suffering or frustration, what interests him, his motivations, what makes him distrustful, etc.

Empathic listening is undoubtedly one of the most necessary social skills to relate in a functional way with our environment, to establish healthy relationships and also to establish alliances and synergy dynamics.

In addition to helping us socially with others, empathic listening also has a positive influence on ourselves. has a positive influence on ourselves and helps us to improve in a great variety of personal, emotional and behavioral aspects, since it provides us with information about the way in which others deal with their emotions, with their problems and with their projects and illusions.

How does empathic listening help us to improve as people?

Relating empathically with our environment and actively listening to other people has very positive effects on our day-to-day life and helps us to achieve the best version of ourselves at various levels and in both the short and long term..

Empathic listening is a necessary skill both to put ourselves in the other person's shoes and to understand the changing dynamics of people. understand the changing dynamics of the people and groups of people around us, whether they are our loved ones, peers, partners, or other people.whether they are our loved ones, co-workers or superiors in the workplace.

Some of the main benefits of applying it to our lives are the following:

• It enriches our philosophy of life by leading us to adopt other points of view.
• It leads us to avoid the struggle of egos and to look for things in common.
• It is a good way to understand how context influences people's emotional state.
• It is a source of constant intellectual challenges that stimulates us and feeds our personal development.

Thus, being sensitive to the mental reality of those around us not only intellectually, but also emotionally, is a very necessary skill to respond to the needs of the people around us.This is a very necessary ability to respond to possible changes in both personal and work environments, or even to anticipate the needs of our environment. This allows us to successfully adapt to the demands of everyday life and achieve better results at all levels.

How does empathic listening help us to question our beliefs?

In addition to helping us improve both personally and socially, empathic listening is also a social skill that helps us question our own ideas and beliefs and helps us reflect on the way we see the world. encourages the questioning of our own ideas and beliefs and helps us to reflect on our own way of seeing the world..

This is so because it allows us to put ourselves in the other's place, to value other ways of thinking and alternative ways of conceiving problems and needs and, in short, new ways of interpreting the world. This is a very favorable starting point for enriching our vision of reality, correcting mistakes and anticipating the way in which others may react in certain situations.

Similarly, active listening is a tool that allows us to change a preconceived opinion. to change a preconceived opinion about other people and to go beyond the clichés and go beyond clichés and prejudices by assuming how others think and feel.

To summarize

As we have seen, enhancing the skills associated with empathic listening is key, not only to improve the way we relate to each other in our personal and professional lives, but also as a tool for personal development and learning. not only to improve the way we relate to each other in our personal and professional lives, but also as a tool for personal development and learning.. Training in them brings advantages at key moments and also in day-to-day life.

Bibliographical references:

• Caballo, V. (1983). Manual de entrenamiento y evaluación de las habilidades sociales. Madrid: Siglo XXI.
• Moreno-Jiménez, B., Blanco-Donoso, L.M., Aguirre-Camacho, A., Rivas, S. de, Herrero, M. (2014). Social skills for new organizations. Psicología Conductual. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.
• Serrato-García, M. A. (2019) Do you want to be a leader in the digital era? These are the 11 skills you must develop. Spain. Entrepeneur.