Goleman on empathy

Excerpts from An EI-Based Theory of Performance
Daniel Goleman in The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace 
Edited by Cary Cherniss and Daniel Goleman

Managing relationships well depends on a foundation of Self-Management and Empathy, each of which in turn requires Self-Awareness. If we cannot control our emotional outbursts or impulses and lack Empathy, there is less chance we will be effective in our relationships.

Neurological bases

• Patients with lesions in the prefrontal-amygdala circuits that undergird both Self-Management and Empathy show marked deficits in relationship skills, even though their cognitive abilities remain intact. When Damasio (1994) administered an EI measure to one such patient, he found that though the patient had an IQ of 140, he showed marked deficits in self-awareness and empathy (Bar-On, 2000b).
• Primate studies find parallel effects. Monkeys in the wild who had this prefrontal-amygdala circuitry severed were able to perform food gathering and similar tasks to maintain themselves but lacked all sense of how to respond to other monkeys in the band, even running away from those who made friendly gestures (Brothers, 1989).

Empathy at work

• The Empathy competence gives people an astute awareness of others’ emotions, concerns, and needs. The empathic individual can read emotional currents, picking up on nonverbal cues such as tone of voice or facial expression. Empathy requires Self-Awareness; our understanding of others’ feelings and concerns flows from awareness of our own feelings. This sensitivity to others is critical for superior job performance whenever the focus is on interactions with people.
• The ability to read others’ needs well comes naturally to the best managers of product development teams (Spencer & Spencer, 1993).
• Skill in Empathy correlates with effective sales, as was found in a study among large and small retailers (Pilling & Eroglu, 1994).
• In an increasingly diverse workforce, the Empathy competence allows us to read people accurately and avoid resorting to the stereotyping that can lead to performance deficits by creating anxiety in the stereotyped individuals (Steele, 1997).

Empathy & Communication

• People who exhibit the Communication competence are effective in the give-and-take of emotional information, deal with difficult issues straightforwardly, listen well and welcome sharing information fully, and foster open communication and stay receptive to bad news as well as good.
• This competence builds on both managing one’s own emotions and empathy; a healthy dialogue depends on being attuned to others’ emotional states and controlling the impulse to respond in ways that might sour the emotional climate. Data on managers and executives show that the better people can execute this competence, the more others prefer to deal with them (J. Walter Clarke Associates, cited in Goleman, 1998b).

Empathy & Leadership

• Visionary leaders are empathic, self-confident, and often act as agents of change.
• Affiliative leaders are empathic, with strengths in building relationships and managing conflict.
• The democratic leader encourages collaboration and teamwork and communicates effectively—particularly as an excellent listener.
• The coaching leader is emotionally self-aware, empathic, and skilled at identifying and building on the potential of others.