Empathy at Work

Empathy at Work

by Sharon Steed
Released March 2019
Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ISBN: 9781492050476

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

Empathy is an essential tool for building solid relationships, connecting with those you disagree with, and creating an environment where everyone feels valued. Empathy is also incredibly difficult to quantify. How do you show empathy? Which actions promote empathy, and which destroy it? This practical ebook details how companies can create systems and services around empathy to help managers and their employees have a better experience at work.

Author Sharon Steed examines the most impactful empathy actions and shows you how to facilitate conversations around incorporating these practices among your teams. You’ll explore different types of empathy and learn how to apply empathetic communication. Along the way, you’ll discover new tools to help you be a better empath in difficult situations.

This ebook explores:

  • Three types of empathy that play an important role in how you interact with others
  • Key characteristics of empathetic communication: active listening and intentional speaking
  • Why nonverbal communication outweighs verbal communication
  • The behaviors of collaborative teams that value empathy
  • How to overcome barriers at work that make empathy difficult
  • Three steps to help you put empathy into operation

Table of contents

  1. Introduction
  2. 1. What Is Empathy?
    1. Emotional Empathy
    2. Cognitive Empathy
    3. Empathic Concern
    4. Empathy and Corporate Culture
      1. Culture
      2. Corporate Empathy
    5. What Studies Say About How Employers and Employees Feel About Empathy
      1. Empathy Is Learned, Not Innate
    6. The Habits of Empathetic Companies
      1. Transparency Is Prioritized
      2. Everyone Feels Heard
      3. Open Lines of Communication
  3. 2. Empathetic Communication at Work
    1. Defining Empathetic Communication
    2. The Key Characteristics of Empathetic Communication
      1. Speaking with Intention First, for Impact Second
      2. Active Listening
    3. How We Communicate with Others, Verbally and Nonverbally
      1. Our Tone of Voice
      2. Maintaining (or Our Inability to Maintain) Eye Contact
      3. Facial Expressions and Body Language
    4. Empathetic Communication in Action
  4. 3. Collaborating with Empathy
    1. What Is Collaboration?
    2. Collaboration and Empathy
    3. The Behaviors of Collaborative Teams That Value Empathy
      1. Freedom
      2. Support
      3. Perspective
  5. 4. The Barriers to Empathy at Work
    1. Sympathy Versus Empathy
    2. What We Do That Makes Empathy Difficult
      1. Being Mindless and Thoughtless
      2. Negative Messaging
    3. Combatting Failures of Empathy
      1. Leadership
      2. Middle Management
      3. General Workforce
    4. If at First You Don’t Succeed…
  6. 5. Operationalizing Empathy
    1. Impactful Everyday Empathy Actions
      1. Make Every Part of the Conversation Active
      2. Speak with Intent
    2. The Mindset Needed to Operationalize Empathy
      1. Your Empathy Mindset
    3. Step 1: Patience
      1. Operationalizing Patience
    4. Step 2: Perspective
      1. Operationalizing Perspective
    5. Step 3: Connection
      1. Operationalizing Connection
  7. 6. Conclusion: You Are in Control

Product information

  • Title: Empathy at Work
  • Author(s): Sharon Steed
  • Release date: March 2019
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9781492050476