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SevenPracticalTipsForIncreasingEmpathy
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WehavesomethingincommonwithratsthatmaysurpriseyouThosescurryinglittle (sometimeslarge)rodentsrulinggarbagecansacrosstheworldareactuallycapableof empathy,justlikehumans
Manyspeciesdisplayempathyinsomeformoranother,butprimates especiallyushumans haveamoresophisticatedcapacityforempathyduetoourlargeworkingmemoryand moredevelopedneocortex.Haveyoueverwincedwhenyousawanotherpersontakeahard fall?Thatistheresultofmirrorneurons,thediscoveryofwhichfundamentallyalteredour understandingofempathy.Sincethen,neuroscientistshaveidentifiedwhattheycallan “empathycircuit”inourbrains Ifthiscircuitisdamagedinanyway,itcancurtailourability tounderstandwhatothersarefeeling,allthewhileleavingourcapacityforlogicintact
YouNaturallyHavetheAbilitytobeEmpathetic
Empathyisnota“youeitherhaveit,oryoudon’t”qualityinhumanbeings Unlessyou’ve experiencedaparticularbraintrauma,youhavetheabilitytobeempathetic Andsodoes thatrudeteammemberofyours!
Onapersonallevel,empatheticpeopletendtobemoregenerousandconcernedwith people’swelfareandtendtohavehappierrelationshipsandgreaterwellbeing Butwhat exactlyisit?Empathyistheabilitytosenseotherpeople’semotions,coupledwiththeability toimaginewhatsomeoneelsemightbethinkingorfeeling
EmpathyisImportantatWork
Yetempathydoesn’tonlycomeinhandywhenlisteningtoyourbestfriendexplainhiswoes It’sactuallyveryimportantforwork,bothforleadersandteammembersalike.The ConsortiumforResearchonEmotionalIntelligenceinOrganizationsreportsacorrelation betweenempathyandincreasedsales,highperformingmanagersofproductdevelopment teams,andincreasedperformanceinhighlydiverseteams Studieshavealsoshownthat empathyimprovesleadershipabilityandfacilitateseffectivecommunication
Howcouldthisbe?Well,ifyouthinkabouthowfundamentalrelationshipbuildingisto almosteveryaspectofbusinessandlife,it’seasytoseewhyIt’sbeenproventhatempathy isanimportantpartofeffectiverelationships InstudiesbyDrAntonioDamasio,“medical patientswhohaddamagetopartofthebrainassociatedwithempathyshowedsignificant
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deficitsinrelationshipskills,eventhoughtheirreasoningandlearningabilitiesremained intact”
Thebenefitsofempathyatworkaremany.Hereisapartiallisttogiveyouanideaofhow increasedempathycangreatlyimpactyourworkinglife
FiveBenefitsofEmpathyatWork
1 Youwillbetterunderstandtheneedsofyourcoworkersandcustomers
2 Whencommunicating,youwillbetterunderstandwhatisunspoken,andseemore clearlytheperceptionyoucreateinotherswithyourwordsandactions
3 Dealingwithconflictwillbecomeeasierandwiththeincreasedunderstandingof other’smotivationsandfears,youwillfinditeasiertodealwithanynegativitythat comesyourway
4 You’llbeabletobetterpredictactionsandreactionsofothers,whichwillhelp motivatethepeopleyouworkwith
5.Itwillbecomeeasiertoconvinceothersofyourpointofview.
EmpathyisEssentialforLeaders
Forleadersofthecurrentworkforce,empathyisessential.Dr.DanielGolemancitesthree keyreasonswhyempathyissoimportantforleaders:1)theincreaseintheuseofteams2) therapidpaceofglobalizationwithincreasedcrossculturalcommunicationand3)the growingneedtoretaintalent Empathyalsoenablesleaderstocreateenvironmentsofopen communicationandfeedback,understandandnavigatetheproblemsemployeesface, validatewhattheiremployeesaregoingthrough,andanticipatetheneedsofteams.
EmpathyCanBeExercised
Nowthatyou’veseenjusthowmuchempathycanbenefityouatwork,you’reprobably wonderingifyou’reanempatheticperson AsImentioned,weallhavethecapacityfor empathyHowever,itisaskillthattakespracticeformostpeople AsDr MohammadrezaHojatstates,“Empathyisacognitiveattribute,notapersonalitytrait”Lucky forus,cognitiveattributescanbeexercised
Sohowdoweexerciseandstrengthenourempathymuscle?Herearesevenpracticaltips forincreasingempathy.
SevenPracticalTipsForIncreasingEmpathy
1.LISTENANDDON’TINTERRUPT
Trulylisteningcanbeachallenge.Sometimeswearejustwaitingtogiveourownopinion. Readherefortipsonimprovingyourlisteningskills
2 BEFULLYPRESENTWHENYOUAREWITHPEOPLEANDTUNEINTONON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
Youcanstartbeingfullypresentbyputtingawayyourphone,notcheckingyouremail,and notacceptingcallswhileyouareinteractingwithsomeone.AstudybyProfessor
Emeritus,AlbertMehrabianofUCLA,reportsthatthethingswesayaccountforonly7%of whatwearetryingtocommunicate “Theother93%ofthemessagethatwecommunicate whenwespeakiscontainedinourtoneofvoiceandbodylanguage”Ifallyou’redoingwhile youspeakwithsomeoneislisteningtowhattheyaresayingwhileyouscrollthroughyour upcomingappointments,you’llmissthebulkofwhatisbeingcommunicated
3.SMILEATPEOPLE
Smilesareliterallycontagious.Thepartofyourbrainresponsibleforthisfacialexpressionis thecingulatecortex,whichisanunconsciousautomaticresponsearea Sincesmiling
releasesfeelgoodchemicalsinthebrain,activatesrewardcenters,andincreaseshealth, you’lltrulybedoingyourselfandyourcolleagueafavorwhenyoushowthosepearlywhites
4 USEPEOPLE’SNAMESANDENCOURAGETHEM
EncouragingpeoplecanbeassimpleasnoddingatthemwhiletheytalkinameetingThis simplegesture,alongwithusingtheirname,canmakegreatimpactonrelationshipbuilding
5.TRYTOEMPATHIZEWITHPEOPLEWHOSEBELIEFSYOUDON’TSHARE
Thistipmightparticularlycomeinhandyduringelectionyear!Onegoodwaytoapproach differingbeliefsinconversationistosay,“That’sinteresting,howdidyoudevelopthatidea?” or“Tellmemore.”
6.GIVEGENUINERECOGNITION
Movebeyond“greatjob”andgivespecificcomplimentslike,“Yourresearchonthisdifficult topicisthorough”or“Thankyou Iwouldhavemissedthatinformationifyouhadn’tpointed itout”
7 CHALLENGEYOURSELFTOHAVEADEEPERCONVERSATIONWITHACOLLEAGUE
Understandingaperson’spointofvieworpersonalchallengesrequiresconversationthat movespasttheweatherThisdoesn’tmeanyoushouldaskyourcolleagueabouthighly personalmatters Startbysharingalittlemoreofyourownexperiencesandperspectives andseeifyourcolleaguefollowssuit
TipnumberseveniswhatIwantyoutodothisweek.It’sanexcellentwaytojumpinthe watersofimprovingempathyWhileyouspeaktothisperson,thinkaboutusingtheirname, smiling,encouragingthem,listening,withoutinterrupting.Thissingularconversationwon’t justbepractice;itwilllaythefoundationforabetterworkingrelationshipwithyour colleague Youalsomightenjoyyourself!
Whoisthemostempatheticpersonyouknow?Inwhatwaysdotheyshowtheirempathy?I’d lovetohearaboutit Letusshareexperiences Leaveacommentbelow,sendusanemail,or findusonTwitter
