Six Habits of Highly Empathic People If you think you’re hearing the word “empathy” everywhere, you’re right. It’s now on the lips of scientists and business leaders, education experts and political activists. But there is a vital question that few people ask: How can I expand my own empathic potential? Empathy is not just a way to extend the boundaries of your moral universe. According to new research, it’s a habit we can cultivate to improve the quality of our own lives. But what is empathy? The big buzz about empathy stems from a revolutionary shift in the science of how we understand human nature. Over the last decade, neuroscientists have identified a 10-section “empathy circuit” in our brains which, if damaged, can curtail our ability to understand what other people are feeling. But empathy doesn’t stop developing in childhood. Habit 1: Cultivate curiosity about strangers Highly empathic people (HEPs) have an insatiable curiosity about strangers. Habit 2: Challenge prejudices and discover commonalities
Overcoming Obstacles to Diversity 5 Ways To Measure The Emotional Intelligence Of Your Boss Research has shown us that more than 90% of top leadership performers have a high amount of emotional intelligence or EI. The higher up the ladder that leaders are, the more people they impact and their EI becomes increasingly important. The person at the top sets the atmosphere that permeates the organization, including the emotional temperature. Not only does a leader with low emotional intelligence have a negative impact on employee morale, it directly impacts staff retention. We know that the biggest reason that people give for leaving an organization is the relationship with those above them. Below are five ways to spot an emotionally intelligent boss. 1. Insecure leaders that demonstrate low EI become defensive and take it personally whenever they encounter anything that appears to them as criticism and a challenge to their authority. 2. Leaders who are oblivious to their own emotions and how they are impacted by them have no awareness of how their words and actions affect others.
13 Ways to Pass the Squeeze Test The people you serve evaluate you like a person buying bread. Do you pass the “squeeze test?” Ever have a bad boss who didn’t realize how bad they were? Really lousy leaders don’t know how lousy they are. Lousy leaders: Walk around with their nose in the air and their hands in their pockets.Don’t show-up until something goes wrong.Think problems are somebody else’s.Blab on and on.Keep others on the hook but, let themselves off.Blow up when their ideas are questioned or challenged.Hide behind policy and procedure. 13 qualities of leaders we admire: Always seek the highest good. Bonus: Know they’re on both lists. What positive qualities are most important? What positive behaviors do you aspire to? Like this: Like Loading...
4 Soft Skills That You Need To Learn Over at the Geek Manager site, Meri Williams recently blogged about a phenomenon she sees play out among her teams. A technically brilliant person “slowly becomes incredibly frustrated that they don’t have the impact they want to have.” The person knows he needs “soft skills” but many then fell prey to belief in what Williams calls the Soft Skills Fairy. “The Soft Skills Fairy has a wand, and if you were touched with it at birth then you have soft skills. If you weren’t you don’t and can never develop them,” she writes. This is obviously ridiculous. But this isn’t a modern observation. 1. I’m an introvert, but fortunately, I’m also a journalist. 2. While misery may love company, long term it’s not the company you want to be keep. 3. To quote Carnegie, “Show respect for the other person’s opinions. 4. Carnegie told people to “appeal to the nobler motives” and it’s not a bad idea.
Act Like a Leader Before You Are One - Amy Gallo If you want to become a leader, don’t wait for the fancy title or the corner office. You can begin to act, think, and communicate like a leader long before that promotion. Even if you’re still several levels down and someone else is calling all the shots, there are numerous ways to demonstrate your potential and carve your path to the role you want. What the Experts Say “It’s never foolish to begin preparing for a transition no matter how many years away it is or where you are in your career,” says Muriel Maignan Wilkins, coauthor of Own the Room: Discover Your Signature Voice to Master Your Leadership Presence. Michael Watkins, the chairman of Genesis Advisers and author of The First 90 Days and Your Next Move, agrees. Not only does the planning help you develop the necessary skills and leadership presence, it also increases your chances of getting the promotion because people will already recognize you as a leader. Principles to Remember Do: Don’t:
Leadership Is Not a Solitary Task - John Coleman by John Coleman | 1:00 PM February 5, 2014 An inspiring historical story is once again making the rounds at least partially because of its inclusion in Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, David and Goliath. In it, Gladwell tells the story of the French town of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, which became a safe haven for Jews in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Led by minister André Trocmé, the residents of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon saved between 3,000 and 3,500 Jews (in addition to others seeking refuge) from 1940 until the end of the war, bringing them into the community and hiding them from French and Nazi officials. By any measure, their actions were courageous and inspiring. We often think of leadership as a solitary task. First, great leadership often starts in community. Similarly, great leaders often realize they must act not in isolation but with community. Finally, the most inspiring leadership is that done for community. These are old principles, but they are worth remembering.
Social scientists build case for 'survival of the kindest' -- ScienceDaily Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, are challenging long-held beliefs that human beings are wired to be selfish. In a wide range of studies, social scientists are amassing a growing body of evidence to show we are evolving to become more compassionate and collaborative in our quest to survive and thrive. In contrast to "every man for himself" interpretations of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, Dacher Keltner, a UC Berkeley psychologist and author of "Born to be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life," and his fellow social scientists are building the case that humans are successful as a species precisely because of our nurturing, altruistic and compassionate traits. They call it "survival of the kindest." "Because of our very vulnerable offspring, the fundamental task for human survival and gene replication is to take care of others," said Keltner, co-director of UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center. Empathy in our genes
Use Co-opetition to Build New Lines of Revenue - Marquis Cabrera by Marquis Cabrera | 1:00 PM February 10, 2014 Examples of high-profile failed business collaborations are everywhere. From the WordPerfect-Novell acquisition that led to bankruptcy, to the misfires of the Target-Neiman holiday experiment, it’s clear that despite the plethora of management literature on how to launch a successful partnership, collaborations often go bust. It turns out, where there is money to be made, self-interest prevails, thus trumping cooperation in the process. Traditional collaborations fail because deep down, stakeholders assume their success must come at others’ expense, which is clearly a zero-sum game. As management professors Adam M. Unlike traditional collaborations, instead of coming together to do something and pretending you’re not competing, co-opetition leverages your competitor’s strength in order to thrive together. Agree to share information. Focus on building something new. Choose partnerships where you each bring something different to the table.
The Office Blend | IT'S TIME TO LOVE YOUR WORK LIFE The resume that makes for a top executive Illustration/Hieronymus If you were to create a mash-up profile of corporate America's most senior executives, it would unsurprisingly look something like this: A white man in his 50s with an MBA who has switched jobs every four years. Still, a new study published this week in the Harvard Business Review, which provides a snapshot over time of the demographics and career trajectories of Fortune 100 executives, shows how much the boardroom is definitely changing. For instance, the majority of these top executives now have undergraduate degrees from state universities, with only a fraction going to college at one of the Ivies. The research, an effort by professors from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and IE Business School in Madrid, compiled the backgrounds of the top 10 executives at each Fortune 100 company in 2011. "We saw this sharp decline in the lifetime employment model among senior guys," says Wharton professor Peter Cappelli of one of the study's major findings.