Developing Empathy Skills

  • These skills are commonly thought of as either innate; that is, you are born with them) or you don’t have them and never will.
  • Inaccurate; there is unassailable evidence to prove the opposite.
  • Fortunately, they are indeed in the category of acquirable skills.
  1. Based on the Natural Behavior Styles of an individual, it is accurate to say that some people will have more difficulty acquiring and implementing them.
  2. Nevertheless, every individual can acquire and utilize some level of skill who are committed to doing so and are fortunate enough to be part of a highly skilled training environment
  3. ​​​A great deal of emphasis and promising research has been accomplished and published over the last few decades by Dan Goleman, PhD and others on the source and power of human empathy.

    The case for EQ (Emotional Intelligence/Empathy Skills)

    1. "Emotional Intelligence is the #1 predictor of professional success and personal excellence".
    2. "The critical skill as determined by a survey of business and organization managers."
    3. "90% of top performers have high EQ."
    4. "EQ is responsible for 58% of effective performance."
    5. "People with high EQ earn $29,000 more annually than their counterparts with lower EQ." (Source: Emotional Intelligence 2.0 Bradberry and Greaves)
    6. "... Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention" (Herbert Simon).
    7. "Self-absorption in all its forms kills empathy, not to mention compassion." (Goleman)
    8. "An analysis of more than 300 top-level executives from fifteen global companies showed that six emotional competencies distinguished stars from the average.

      Source: 1997, Spencer, L. M., Jr., Team Leadership, Organizational Awareness, Self-confidence, Achievement Drive, and Leadership").

  4. While it is a skill and thus acquirable by anyone, what has been missing is a clear understanding of the necessity of precise languaging and masterful design for delivering the “how to” skills. 
  5. For that, please visit the next service category, “The Empathy Institute"