Our church is hosting the global leadership summit. This is, by far, one of my favorite events to attend every year: the learning, the relationships, and how God moves through leaders in our region.

Here are a few takeaways from the session with Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. on “The Critical Role of Empathy in Leadership”:

• We have a real empathy problem in our world.
• We have had a rise in apathy and a decline in empathy.
• Our public trust is broken.
• With isolation and sharp political divisions, we have an empathy deficit.
• Lacking empathy is extremely easy today.
• To show empathy, we need to engage in discussions, not debates.
• Getting in the last word or winning an argument loses the relationship.
• Great leaders listen extremely well.
• Showing empathy means embracing diversity and seeing how much we have in common.
• You must meet people where they are and understand how they got there before you can help them get them to where they need to go.
• Empathy means we must be kinder.
• We treat people with civility, respect, and love when we see humanity.