When the other person is doing the talking, why can’t we wait to speak? Instead of letting our employee or professional peer or friend or family member finish their point, why are we so ready to jump in as soon as they take a breath or a pause?
Are we suffering from FOLO (Fear Of Losing Ourselves)?
If empathy is ‘the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person’ (OED) then FOLO is surely the opposite of empathy. The healthy ego doesn’t mind giving up the center stage to someone else. The healthy ego doesn’t mind if someone else’s triumph or pain point gets all of the attention. The healthy ego doesn’t need to come up with an even better triumph or pain point story.
The healthy ego isn’t afraid of losing itself. The healthy ego has nothing to lose.