Developing emotional awareness enhances agency and empathy in personal and professional interactions.
Building an emotional piggy bank of positive interactions is key for managing conflicts and communication.
Deep dives
The Interpersonal Dynamics Course at Stanford GSB
The Interpersonal Dynamics course at Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) focuses on teaching effective communication skills in both professional and personal contexts. One exercise in the course, called the influence line, involves students ranking each other according to influence. By receiving feedback and understanding how they are perceived, students can make changes to their behavior and adapt to different cultural contexts. This course empowers individuals to have agency over their communication style and develop a range of behaviors to enhance their interpersonal interactions.
Creating Empathy and Connection in Organizations
In corporate cultures that prioritize logic and action, it can be challenging to foster empathy and connection. One strategy is to incorporate a check-in at the beginning of meetings where each participant shares how they are feeling, creating a space for personal connection. This approach allows individuals to see each other beyond their functional roles, as parents, caregivers, or individuals with personal lives. By gradually increasing the vulnerability and emotional range in discussions, organizations can establish deeper connections and enhance empathy among team members.
Managing Conflict and Enhancing Communication in the Workplace
Empathy plays a crucial role in managing conflict and enhancing communication at work. Celine Tio recommends building an emotional piggy bank of positive interactions before conflicts arise. Following John Gottman's research, she advises maintaining a five-to-one ratio of positive to negative interactions in relationships. Simple gestures like smiles, nods, or words of acknowledgment can contribute to emotional deposits in the piggy bank. By demonstrating good intent and prioritizing relationships, conflicts can be approached with a foundation of positivity and understanding, leading to more successful resolutions.
How are you feeling right now? According to Celine Teoh, we all need to ask ourselves that question more often — and be more precise in how we answer it.
Teoh is a facilitator of the course Interpersonal Dynamics, or “Touchy Feely,” as it’s affectionately known on campus. In her work with students and as a CEO coach, she encourages people to get better acquainted with their feelings. “Feelings are data,” she says. “In the rest of our logical lives, we would never make decisions on bad or highly abstract data. But we'll do that with feelings.”
In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Teoh and host Matt Abrahams discuss how developing greater emotional awareness can help us achieve more agency and empathy in our personal and professional lives.