Neuroscientists recognise Cognitive and Emotional empathy as relevant to executive effectiveness. Cognitive empathy is where you understand the other person's perspective while emotional empathy allows you to sense unspoken feelings.
Psychology Today defines Empathy as "the experience of understanding another person's thought, feelings and conditions from his or her point of view, rather than from one's own." Simply put, 'Empathy is your pain in my heart.' Among the various forms of empathy, neuroscientists recognise two as relevant to executive effectiveness, viz. Cognitive and Emotional empathy. With Cognitive empathy, you can understand the other person's perspective, reflect on their situation, and consider the forces that may be acting upon them. Emotional empathy allows you to sense unspoken feelings. And both these forms are useful for leaders.
We are well aware that Empathy matters in a personal relationship, but how does it matter in business? You need empathy to work effectively with other people. You pick up cues on what is being felt and thought. Why is Empathy important in business? It is important since it can make a material difference in how leaders lead, thus impacting how people respond. Executives who lack empathy suffer difficult social situations at work.
Empathy as a leadership skill
This story is from the March 2019 edition of Human Capital.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 2019 edition of Human Capital.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Your Thinking In Your Hands
An incredible and implementable resource for thinkers, managers, leaders, collaborators, incubators and innovators, as well as anyone who wants the power of shaping ideas critically and creatively.
Workplace Happiness Bootcamp
Workplace Happiness Bootcampby Happiitude & Delivering Happiness was held from 7th - 9th June, 2018 at the Ramada Convention Centre, Mumbai.
Policies For Leave And Working Hours
Employees are most productive when they achieve work-life balance that enables them to meet their responsibilities outside work.
The Clairvoyant Leader
Manuel D'Souza, Chief Human Resources Officer, Intelenet Global Services, began his career as an Account manager and is today managing a 55,000 strong workforce in the company. He believes that evolving oneself according to the changing requirements of the business is the true hallmark of a leader and clarity in communication is integral for HR in times of such a transition.
Centre For Excellence?
The fact that Universities need to remain focussed on rendering quality education, and thereby, work towards becoming centres of excellence is quintessential. While the above remain as the guiding principles for the Founders when setting up an educational Institution, student requirements with respect to placement, industry demand for quality talent, and, the aspirations of the local community try to steer them away from the thought of setting up a centre of excellence.
The Questioning Quotient
In an increasingly chaotic world, interdependencies only keep increasing since technology generates and shares information in real time. At times, we are struck with many choices that appear to be right, and yet confused, as to which is right.
Digital Leadership - Leveraging The Uniqueness Of Digital
Human Capital interacted with HR professionals from various domains to gather an understanding on the impact of 'Digital' in the realm of leadership, and the role to be adapted by leaders of today in the wake of a perennial shift in the technology landscape as also the enhanced presence of a techsavvy and younger workforce in today's organisations.
Being Humble
Humble leaders possess the remarkable ability to sculpt strategic and integrative perspective plans. They rise from being myopic to being agile and adaptive in execution. They fathom past trends and shifts in the environment with openness and a systemic view.
The Talent Conundrum
During the SAP SuccessFactors Success Connect conference, Penny Stoker, Global Leader of HR Services at EY, unveiled "Onboarding Buddy", an onboarding AI chat bot that fully integrates with SAP SuccessFactors. The uniqueness of the bot is that it has answers to the otherwise mundane requests from the new employees. While this is definitely the way forward for the HR to rein in AI augmented talent management solutions, it does not exactly give a measure of the amount of penetration required by AI and the balance to be set forth by human intervention.
Empathy: An Essential Leadership Ingredient
Neuroscientists recognise Cognitive and Emotional empathy as relevant to executive effectiveness. Cognitive empathy is where you understand the other person's perspective while emotional empathy allows you to sense unspoken feelings.
