The Michelle Chalfant Show — Life from the Adult Chair

357: 5 Steps to Empathy with Rob Volpe

Mar 9, 2023

Rob Volpe, CEO of Ignite360 and author of "Tell Me More About That," shares his expertise on empathy, illuminating its critical role in our divided society. He reveals shocking statistics about empathy's decline and discusses how emotional and cognitive empathy differ. Listeners will learn five actionable steps to foster empathy, enhance relationships, and connect meaningfully, even amidst political tensions. Volpe emphasizes that empathy isn’t about agreement but about understanding, encouraging everyone to engage authentically for a more harmonious world.

40:21

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Episode guests

Rob Volpe

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Empathy comprises both emotional and cognitive aspects, allowing for deeper connections and understanding in relationships and communications.

Research highlights a significant decline in empathy over the years, driven by factors like political polarization and technology, necessitating active efforts to enhance it.

Deep dives

The Essence of Empathy

Empathy involves connecting with others on both emotional and cognitive levels to understand their lived experiences. It is often misinterpreted, with definitions ranging from feeling someone else's emotions to simply seeing their point of view or walking in their shoes. This distinction is crucial, as emotional empathy allows individuals to feel the emotions of others, while cognitive empathy focuses on understanding their perspective without necessarily feeling their emotions. Both aspects play significant roles in fostering healthy relationships across various contexts, including personal and professional interactions.

Intro

4min

The Power of Empathy

10min

The Power of Empathy in Relationships

8min

The Empathy Crisis

10min

Bridging Political Divides Through Empathy and Understanding

3min

Building Empathy: The Empathy Gym

5min

We’ve all felt it: the extra tense political discussions, the harsh climate on social media and the overall division between people. It often feels like half the planet is living in a different world and we just can’t seem to understand each other.

This isn’t just in our heads. Studies show that empathy has declined 40% since 1979, and today, one third of people say they can’t easily see the point of view of somebody else.

We have to learn how to listen, hear and respect each other again.

The good news is that we can all learn empathy!

My guest today, Rob Volpe, has mastered the art of empathy both in his personal relationships and through his work in market research. Since his job is all about listening to people and creating connections, he’s learned to identify the specific attitudes and behaviors that help people hear each other and feel heard – and he’s here today to empower us with five simple steps to building more empathy in our life and world!

Listen to discover:

● What empathy actually is

● The wonderful things empathy can fuel in our lives

● The difference between emotional empathy and cognitive empathy

● What to do if you have a partner who doesn't have a lot of empathy

● The difference between empathy and agreement

● Shocking stats about the decline in empathy

● The factors driving our current empathy crisis

● 5 steps to build more empathy today

Empathy is something we talk a lot about but have trouble defining and practicing. We also tend to think it’s a quality someone either has or doesn’t – when in reality, we are all capable of empathy, and we all need to consistently practice our empathy skills.

You don’t have to naturally feel the emotions of others to be empathetic. By setting aside our judgments, asking good questions and listening with curiosity, we can stop talking past each other and learn how to really love each other, even when we disagree!

"Empathy as it's defined is about connecting with other people on either an emotional or a cognitive level to understand the lived experience of somebody else as if you were them." - Rob Volpe

"Empathy is needed for healthy relationships." - Michelle Chalfant

"We just want to be seen, heard and know that we're enough." - Rob Volpe

"It's not about agreeing. It's about witnessing and really seeing and hearing them." - Michelle Chalfant

"One third of adults could not easily see the point of view of other people." - Rob Volpe

"We're living what I call 'chin up'...and when we're chin up and living in the head space, we're ready to defend. We're not listening." - Michelle Chalfant

"We just need to take the time to listen to one another and hear what the other person is saying and not be so defensive." - Rob Volpe

LINKS & RESOURCES

Rob Volpe Website

https://www.5stepstoempathy.com/

"Tell Me More About That" (Rob Volpe book)

https://www.amazon.com/Tell-More-About-That-Conversation/dp/1774580896

Rob Volpe Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/empathy_activist/

Rob Volpe TikTok

https://www.tiktok.com/@empathyactivist

The Self-Worth Meditation Bundle

https://theadultchair.com/worthy