 Empathy. It's essential to leadership, yet it goes deeper than the common perception of simply identifying with others. True empathy involves identifying with yourself. Empathetic behavior is not a one-way street that stands alone. Being so deeply and focused externally can or may discount yourself. We might curtail our permission and time to feel inside and appreciate the context believing that that is actually selfish. The skewed thinking can run your emotional tank empty and limit your interpersonal capacity. Empathy involves cognitive, emotional, and somatic atonement towards others' experience. The soma or body provides a two-way empathetic channel. Without self-empathy, we limit our own capacity to be wholly present for others. Absent of self-empathy, I broke my own motto. I'll always be prepared for the conversation that you did not know you're going to have today. Preparation is the key, and that person is worth it. But so am I. The preparation that I was missing was giving myself permission to feel and attune inwardly as well as outwardly. Pause and reflect the self when you embody your leadership empathy. It requires two aspects of your attunement, both yourself and other, and it cannot exist without you. So lead well this week.