PITTSBURGH – A few months ago, Aaron Gibson considered himself a very direct manager. He'd often say whatever was on his mind.

"No, that's not how we're doing it," Gibson would say to the more than 100 employees he oversees. "Unless you proved to me that you're a hard worker, I wouldn't really deal with you."

But in April, Gibson, executive director of three Pittsburgh YMCAs, took a five-hour crash course on leading with empathy. He says it turned him from a no-nonsense manager into an understanding, caring leader.

About 20 percent of employers in the United States offer empathy training for managers, a jump from 10 years ago, reports the Wall Street Journal. LinkedIn, Tesla Motors, Cisco Systems Inc. and Ford Motor Co. are among the growing number of firms to have invested in empathy training.

A 2016 Development Dimensions International study of more than 15,000 leaders in 18 countries found an empathy index's top performing businesses generated 50 percent more income per employee than the index's bottom performers. Translation: Empathetic employees, from the top-down, perform better.

During the course, which lasted from about 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. one Friday, Gibson was put with three or four other managers from across the region. They were given a list of scenarios and required to act them out in front of a group.

Among the strategies he's implemented since the training: He meets with the staff members who report to him on a bi-weekly basis. He's begun an open-door policy. He asks colleagues about their personal lives. He might ask if there is anything he can do to help an employee on a project.

"It's about engaging with them," he said.

Daniel Messinger, a professor of psychology at the University of Miami, co-wrote a 2011 paper titled, "The Development of Empathy: How, When, and Why." He said in a phone interview that empathy is putting yourself in somebody else's emotional shoes and having a sense of what they are experiencing.

Empathy can be easily learned, he said. There are times in life when people naturally want to be empathetic and times when they don't, he added. Finding balance is key.

It takes time to develop a feel, Gibson says. To find that balance and grow empathetic toward yourself and others, Messinger suggests practicing mindfulness — defined as a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.

"We all have the seeds of empathy," he said.