You Are an Absorber
You are the person people feel safe around.
And it is exhausting.
You are empathetic, considerate, and attuned to how others are feeling.
In any difficult conversation, your first instinct is to make sure the other person is okay, even when you are the one who needed something from the conversation in the first place.
You hold space beautifully.
The problem is, you hold so much of everyone else's that there is very little space left for you.
What this is costing you
Conversations where you walk away without getting what you needed
The habit of over-explaining, over-apologising, and over-accommodating
Emotional exhaustion from carrying other people's feelings alongside your own
A growing sense that your needs always come last
The good news
Your empathy is not the problem; it’s one of your greatest professional assets.
What is missing is the boundary between feeling with someone and being responsible for them.
You can be warm, empathetic, and clear about what you need, and you can support others and get your point across.
You don’t have to choose.
Your next step
Mastering Emotional Conversations is a practical online course where you will learn how how to stay empathetic without absorbing and discover how to assert your needs without feeling guilty.
You'll finally feel confident in having the conversations where you need something without immediately making it about everyone else's comfort.
Featured in the Chartered Management Institute Insights
