According to Adamson, “empathy” is the one word that matters most to sales [and marketing] success.
Does empathy capture everything your book, The Challenger Customer, is about?
Brent: The idea that empathy is the core principle of the entire book The Challenger Customer, I admit, is more of a personal opinion based on all of our research.
You’ll notice the word doesn’t appear anywhere in the proper book. It’s only in the acknowledgments where I made just a little blurb at the very back (a short note to my daughters). And I used the word empathy there.
In the first finding of its kind, University of Virginia researchers have discovered that empathy is passed from one generation to the next. And it all starts with moms.
“What we found was that mothers’ empathy for their teens at age 13 predicted that teen’s empathy for their friends across the adolescent years,” lead author Jessica Stern, a developmental psychologist, said. “Then, that ability to show empathy toward your friends when you’re a teenager predicts that you’ll be a more supportive parent much later on in adulthood.”
Stern said empathy is “really important for all sorts of social relationships.”
In the first finding of its kind, University of Virginia researchers have discovered that empathy is passed from one generation to the next. And it all starts with moms.
“What we found was that mothers’ empathy for their teens at age 13 predicted that teen’s empathy for their friends across the adolescent years,” lead author Jessica Stern, a developmental psychologist, said. “Then, that ability to show empathy toward your friends when you’re a teenager predicts that you’ll be a more supportive parent much later on in adulthood.”
Stern said empathy is “really important for all sorts of social relationships.”
by Soulaima Gourani As leaders, we must embrace this shift towards empathetic leadership to meet the evolving needs of our teams and organizations.
Empathic leadership isn't just a bonus—it's a necessity. Employees are no longer satisfied with distant, detached bosses; they yearn for leaders who understand and share their feelings.
However, this demand for empathy can be a double-edged sword for managers.
"I feel like I'm never enough," confessed one Fortune 100 executive, expressing the common sentiment that any team setback feels like a personal failure.
Background Effective communication is the key to a successful relationship between doctors and their patients. Empathy facilitates effective communication, but physicians vary in their ability to empathize with patients. Listening styles are a potential source of this difference. We aimed to assess empathy and listening styles among medical students and whether students with certain listening styles are more empathetic.
Building Structures for Understanding A core theme was the need for brands to genuinely understand the perspectives, challenges, and emotions of the people they serve.
As Jade Kearney, Co-Founder and CEO of She Matters, stated, “To be an empathetic brand, you have to have some relationship to your company, to what you’re doing and to the impact that you’re creating.”
Without that genuine understanding and connection, it becomes difficult to truly empathize with your customers. Kearney emphasized listening intently to directly grasp the pain points and unmet needs of those brands serve.
What is empathy fatigue? Empathy fatigue occurs when we relate too much to the suffering of others, causing us to feel overwhelmed and burned out. Our relationships can be affected, too. In a small 2020 study of people with high empathy, researchers found that the trait “presented as significantly impacting intrapersonal and interpersonal processes sometimes for benefit within both the professional and personal realms but often with negative impact.”
The problem isn’t necessarily that we have too much empathy, but the way we’re expressing it is a type of “overwork,” says Matt Lundquist, psychotherapist and the founder and clinical director of Tribeca Therapy. If a friend is going through something difficult, that overexpression of empathy might make us think, “I ought to feel all of the intensity of this excruciating experience along with them,” says Lundquist.
The Empathy and Moral Psychology Lab studies the affective and motivational mechanisms involved in empathy and moral decision-making. The lab utilizes insights and methodologies from affective science, social cognition, and moral philosophy, in order to understand how people think about and respond to pressing social and ethical situations. Primary Contact: Daryl Cameron Group Website: https://emplab.la.psu.edu
Frans de Waal was just starting his career in primate research in the mid-1970s when he watched a male chimpanzee aggressively confront another at a zoo enclosure in the Netherlands. Awhile later, the chimp calmed down and held his palm up, a gesture of reconciliation. The two chimps hugged.
The moment sparked a lifetime exploration, probing the inner lives of chimps, apes and other species for evidence of empathy, morality and sentient awareness — traits long assumed to exist at high levels only in humans. In other words, Dr. de Waal often said, we are not so special.
“For me, empathy is the moment we question a very strongly held emotion that we have about something and try to see the other side, try to feel what the other side may feel, to ask what must have been their lived experience or their reality that brought them to think or feel that way,” says Dr. Safaneh Mohaghegh Neyshabouri, PhD, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Arts.
Empathy activism is her approach to teaching and it’s what led to her recognition as the inaugural recipient of the 2023 University of Calgary Teaching Award for Inclusive Excellence.
“Empathy is a skill and because it’s a skill, it’s something that can be taught. Literature is the best way to teach that,” says Mohaghegh Neyshabouri.
“I try to bring perspectives from various sides of an issue and those perspectives are often human experiences of various historical or contemporary events, and through that, I create a sense of empathy in students.”
The Impact and Evolution of IVF in India: The birth of the first IVF baby in India was a watershed moment that sparked a wave of optimism and advancement in the field of reproductive medicine. It prompted increased research, innovation, and technological advancements, leading to the refinement of IVF techniques and the establishment of specialized fertility centers across the country. Over the years, India has emerged as a global hub for fertility treatments, offering state-of-the-art facilities, skilled medical professionals, and a compassionate approach to addressing infertility issues. The success stories following the birth of the first IVF baby continue to inspire hope and resilience in couples navigating the challenges of infertility.
Lanky greyhounds placidly let a bunch of beaming children pet them in the SOS Galgos shelter in the suburbs of Barcelona, where the rescued dogs are helping kids learn empathy for animals.
Known as 'galgos' in Spanish, greyhounds are used to track or catch game from rabbits to deer, but thousands of them are discarded in Spain every year when injured or just no longer in their prime.
Shelters like SOS Galgos seek to find homes for the dogs.
Empathy is a crucial quality for effective leadership as it fosters trust, collaboration, and a positive organizational culture. Empathetic leaders understand and respond to the emotions, needs, and concerns of their team members. This leads to enhanced trust, improved communication, greater engagement, enhanced collaboration, better problem-solving, reduced conflict, and increased innovation..
Practical Ways to Lead with Empathy 1. Active Listening: Practice active listening by giving your full attention to team members when they speak. Avoid interrupting and ask clarifying questions to ensure you understand their perspectives.
2. Put Yourself in Their Shoes: Try to see situations from your team member's point of view. Consider their emotions, motivations, and challenges when making decisions or providing feedback.
Inspired by her parent’s work with the elderly, Mrs Feil followed them in their footsteps. After graduating with a Masters degree in Social Work, the people she grew up with in Ohio became the people she worked both for and with.
Dr. Helen Riess is Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Director of Empathy Research and Training in the Psychotherapy Research Group at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is also Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Empathetics, a company that provides science-based empathy and interpersonal skills training for healthcare professionals. Her research focuses on improving empathy and relational skills in physicians.
Don’t get me wrong, I love empathy. In fact, not having full empathy is the hallmark of the toxic personality. It’s a healthy way we relate to other humans. Most people have both affective, or “felt” empathy, in addition to “understanding,” or cognitive empathy. Narcissists and their ilk generally only have cognitive empathy, if they have any at all.
Elevating Team Dynamics with Empathy Empathy within leadership extends far beyond mere understanding; it actively shapes and elevates team dynamics, fostering a workspace where collaboration and mutual respect flourish. Dr. Bharucha keenly observes that Nadella’s empathetic approach has significantly improved Microsoft’s internal relationships, creating a harmonious work environment where each member feels genuinely supported and empowered to take initiative.
This nurturing atmosphere has led to increased productivity and a more cohesive team spirit, proving that when leaders treat empathy as a foundational value, they lay the groundwork for a more dynamic and engaged workforce. Moreover, Dr. Bharucha appreciates how this focus on empathy encourages diversity of thought, allowing for a richer tapestry of ideas and solutions that propel the company forward in innovative ways.
Following a national search, William Mobley, MD, PhD, has been appointed director of the Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion at University of California San Diego, effective January 1, 2024.
Dr. Mobley, who served as interim director of the institute since its founding in 2019, brings decades of experience to this newly appointed role. He is a board-certified neurologist who cares for patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other memory disorders, and currently serves as Associate Dean of Neurosciences Initiatives and Distinguished Professor of Neurosciences at UC San Diego School of Medicine, and Executive Director of UC San Diego’s Down Syndrome Center for Research and Treatment.
Empathy – a company changing the way the world deals with grief and loss – announced a $47 million Series B round led by Index Ventures with participation from General Catalyst, Entrée Capital, Latitude, and Brewer Lane, along with strategic investments from major life insurance carriers Allianz, MassMutual Ventures, MetLife, New York Life Ventures, Securian Financial, and Sumitomo. This funding round raised Empathy’s total funding to $90 million.
Over the past three years, Empathy has created a full range of assistance with grief, estate settlement, and probate, and it is available to 5 million employees and 35 million policyholders nationwide. This support is provided at no cost to families and is available either through their life insurance benefits or with bereavement leave through an employer. The Series B funding round will be used to expand Empathy’s services and cover new industries and regions nationwide.
When it comes to personalities we hope to avoid, those with narcissistic tendencies are well and truly up there.
In fact, most of us probably assume finding ourselves attached to a narcissist is one of the worst things that could happen to us. We've all heard the horror stories.
Conversely, an empathetic person is someone we might be drawn to. Who wouldn't want to spend time with someone who can truly understand and relate to our experiences and feelings?
Well, turns out, empaths aren't all created equal. Enter, the dark empath.
The Rock Ethics Institute's Expanding Empathy Speaker Series returns for its sixth consecutive year starting Tuesday, March 19.
Organized under the leadership of Daryl Cameron, who is Sherwin Early Career Professor in the Rock Ethics Institute, associate professor of psychology, director of the Consortium on Moral Decision-Making and senior research associate in the Rock Ethics Institute, Expanding Empathy is an international, interdisciplinary examination of empathy and moral decision-making processes.
This will be the first year that the series is hosted through the new Consortium on Moral Decision-Making, with joint sponsorship through the Rock Ethics Institute, College of the Liberal Arts, Social Science Research Institute, the McCourtney Institute for Democracy and Department of Philosophy, with additional promotional support from the Department of Psychology.
The primatologist Frans de Waal, who explored empathy and emotion in bonobos and chimps, died last week at 75. His colleague Sarah Brosnan remembers his legacy as both a scientist and friend.
Discover the power of global collaboration and networking at the Virtual School Australia Global Empathy Conferences. Connect with peers & gain new insights.
At the time of the initial publication of Empathy Lessons in 2018, a number of books appeared then and shortly thereafter that questioned the value of empathy.
These extend from works which assert a bold statement of the obvious, that the practice of empathy has its strong and weak points, its breakdowns and break throughs, its misfirings and its successes, all the way to a growing number of works that insist the disadvantages of empathy far outweigh its benefits and sensible practitioners would do well to disregard and even abstain from it.
Another set of practices that cultivates interpersonal peacemaking and fosters inner security is working with empathy circles. Edwin Rutsch, founder of the empathy circle work, builds on the active listening process developed by psychologist Carl Rogers. Rutsch tells us that empathizing with what is unfamiliar helps us to make a connection to the other. As we befriend the unknown, we neutralize and decrease our fear.
The empathy circle helps to increase mutual understanding and connection by ensuring that each person feels fully heard. Within a small group of four, five or six, a speaker and a listener are selected. After a few rounds, in which all group members become both speaker and active listener, this practice allows us to develop the capacity for non-judgmental presence.
Participants become more understanding of themselves and one another and are able to express deep sustained empathy. This is especially useful and profound when listeners and speakers differ greatly in their views.
Empathy Unleashed: The Power of Feeling Someone's Pain • Discover the transformative impact of empathy as we delve into the profound experience of feeling someone's pain. Learn how empathy can bridge gaps and create meaningful connections in this eye-opening video.
00:00 • Introduction - Understanding Empathy: "Feeling Someone's Pain" 00:36 • The Literal and Figurative Meanings 01:18 • The Importance of Empathy in Communication 01:54 • Examples and Usage
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