Context

Of all sub skills in Emotional Intelligence, empathy is probably the most fundamental since it lies at the basis of constructive interaction among reports, managers, colleagues and clients.

Empathy has both a rational and an emotional component.  The rational component allows understanding of what the other thinks. The emotional component provides access to the other’s feelings. Both components are trainable.

Objectives

By the end of the learning path, participants will:

• Be more willing to take time to wonder about why people think and act the way they do.
• Have tools to help them find out what matters to the other.
• Know how to get in touch with other people’s emotions.
• Have means to use the insights above in a way that generates constructive results, both for themselves as for the other.

Approach

In order to broaden and deepen empathic skills, three fields should be covered:

• Attitude: be inherently interested in exploring the other’s thoughts and emotions.
• Skills: translate interest in focused questions to and observation of others, as well as sharpened perception of one’s own feelings as a way to make contact with other people’s emotions.
• Habits: understanding of how to change one’s own habits and actually implementing this change.

Various educational tools are used to achieve progress in these three fields:

• Empathy Thermometer: web based 360° survey that clarifies the current and desired level of empathy, both in a social and a professional environment.
• Exercises that train elemental skills.
• Explicitating differences among participants and exploring ways to do these differences justice.
• Using other participants’ cases to practice seeing the world through their eyes.
• Meticulously prepared assignments out of the training context.

Participants

This training is highly relevant for all those who aim to achieve their goals through interaction with other people.