Big Ideas That Will Change Our World - the Four Building Blocks of Empathy
Many leaders are using the term EMPATHY these days. In this post we’ll define the specific components making up this wonderful term, which has the power to take the whole private sector one very serious and significant step forward.??
The four building blocks of EMPATHY -?
1 - Compromise?
2 - Annulment?
3 - Integration
4 - Connection (the highest level!)
Compromise - opinions are considered based on priorities and the most efficient way to achieve stated goals. We are all committed to doing whatever is most important for achieving the goals. Meaning that opinions are weighed based on whatever will bring the company closest to achieving its goals as quickly as possible. There may be a variety of opinions that are also good but don't provide a direct path to the goal. So there is no room here for argument or undermining one another, since the overall success of the organization is always the #1 priority determining everything.
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What’s really important in these types of situations is to act in annulment. There is no question here of whether or not we like the situation - the only thing that we are all in agreement about is the success and health of the organization. No individual’s personal opinion is more important than the company’s success. This overriding and binding principle is above all other calculations.?
Annulment -?We often watch clips, read research and books about the ideal way to achieve goals - but there are times when I don’t really have an opinion on a particular topic. And this can be a very slippery slope for all of us, where the ego can drag us into all kinds of unnecessary arguments. This is where I’m obligated to accept other opinions and annul myself to them. What does this mean? That I make myself into zero at that moment. It doesn't mean that I'm really zero - it's only for the sake of allowing decisions to be made so the team can move forward in an efficient manner.
Every team is only as productive as its parts. There are times when certain parts are more alert and active, and other parts are less productive. There is no room for conflicts here but to accept the fact that at times certain parts will lead while others are behind, and vice versa. These fluctuations are a dynamic and flexible situation for every team to be in - after all we’re human, not computers. It is crystal clear to all that everyone must commit not to become a burden at times like this, but rather annul him or herself to the team and suit himself to the leading part. This is what annulment is all about. When I’m in less productive states I must accept my team members’ opinions, since they are in a more alert (or more motivated) state than me.?
Integration - without canceling each other we pass on a type of enrichment to one another that is made up of a collective of opinions that are intended to add to one another. Let’s look at a salad for example. We take a tomato, cucumber, onion, a green pepper, and parsley.?We chop it all up and get something completely new - a salad (yes, it's a middle eastern type of salad). Can anyone say it's a tomato? Or a cucumber? No, because it's already become a salad. The same collective of opinions merged together toward achieving the goals, and created an additional layer of value for the company. This gave birth to a new product that does not belong to any single person. The result from the high-quality integration is that something new has been released to the world. It doesn't belong to any person individually, but still belongs to all. It's fascinating to see the parts become a whole through this process.
This is a very interesting new topic for us - the deeper we get into it the higher and faster we’ll take our individual and collective success to the next level.
This following part is the key to breaking through to the other side, which may be lacking in most discussions about empathy:
Connection?- the correct result of the implementation of the first three components is called connection: when all our personal and professional interests merge and are successfully realized in any situation that comes along. This new level of connection reveals something truly surprising - a whole new level of technological innovation and opportunities that are suitable for the new era becomes revealed to everyone in the company. It was there all along - we couldn't see it because our egos were blocking it. This is a super-interesting development with the potential to boost the value of any company in a very significant way.