Significant Career Lesson From An Associate Consultant At Mercer
Peter, an Associate Consultant at Mercer, emphasizes the importance of empathy in navigating workplace challenges, stating that "understanding their perspective and why they're reacting a certain way gives you a lot more perspective." This approach, recognizing the pressures individuals face both personally and professionally, allows for more effective conflict resolution and fosters stronger working relationships.
Empathy, Communication, Problem-Solving, Perspective-Taking, Stress Management
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Peter Yuan
Associate Consultant
Mercer
University of British Columbia
UCLA Anderson School of Management (MBA)
Finance
Consulting & Related Professional Services
Consulting
International Student, Scholarship Recipient, Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School, Transfer Student, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. Empathy is crucial in professional settings, helping to understand colleagues' and clients' perspectives and address root causes of conflict.
2. Recognizing that individuals have lives beyond work, with various pressures and deadlines, allows for more understanding and effective collaboration.
3. Taking a personal interest in others' concerns demonstrates care and helps build stronger, more productive relationships, fostering mutual respect and reducing workplace stress.
Transcript
What is one lesson that you have learned that has proven significant in your career?
I think a really important lesson I've learned early on was to be empathetic. Too often, it's easy to get upset when dealing with someone reporting to you who isn't doing the work correctly, or a major that seems difficult, or a client that seems overly demanding.
More often than not, having a conversation to understand their perspective and why they're reacting a certain way gives you a lot more perspective. You may not like the way they're acting or behaving towards you, but you at least have the context to understand why.
Maybe you can help them solve that underlying root cause, versus simply being upset about the situation. Oftentimes in business, you're dealing with people who have a million things pulling at them, whether it's their boss, their client, or deadlines they have to meet. Their personal lives may have also crept in.
Being cognizant and able to recognize that people have regular lives and pressures is a really important thing to recognize. This helps you understand that even if they're upset at you, you know why, and it's not necessarily your fault. So, you don't take it personally.
You just do the best you can to help them alleviate some of their concerns and pressures. This gives them one less thing to be worried about. From my short career, people definitely recognize when you're putting in the effort to think about them and not just yourself.