Good leaders have a vision they share with staff, the bench, and court stakeholders including the public. This vision should include the purposes and responsibilities of child support offices, not exclusively what is dictated by law or court rule, rather why we as public servants exist.
Once we focus on “why”, we can progress to what we do and how we do it. When we fully internalize and communicate our reason for existence as a public entity, we move into a stage of why and how we help not just our clients, but our staff and ourselves. This transformation provides an opportunity for leaders to become empathic and achieve real connection with those whom they serve. Successful leaders attain a level of empathy that each one of us can strive to achieve.
Learning objectives:
- Attendees will describe why the value of their position and why they are in such a career.
- Attendees will be able to define an empathic response.
- Attendees will debate the merits of a workplace environment centered on either trust or an environment focused on control.
- Attendees will differentiate between perspective taking, perspective receiving and perspective giving.
- Attendees will recognize empathy is not “just an individual sport” that teams and organizations can function and thrive in an empathic environment.
