Fish, or at least zebrafish, may have their own version of empathy, enabled by one of the same chemical pathways thought to drive human social behavior. Fear is contagious for zebrafish, and the hormone oxytocin is responsible for fright catching on, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science.

#EmpathyCircles: A highly effective #Empathy building practice. http://EmpathyCircle.com    
#EmpathyTraining: http://BestEmpathyTraining.

Join instructor Sharon Steed as she explores the practice of empathy to drive an inclusive culture where everyone feels they belong. Empathy is the act of sincerely understanding and identifying with others.

Through this course and by applying empathy, you can discover the impact of empathy in the workplace, how to practice it openly daily, and the benefits of more empathetic behavior for everyone on your team.

Get tips on realizing your potential as a thoughtful leader who’s committed to understanding your biases and assumptions, enlarging your perspective of the world, and fostering sincere, human connections with your team.

#EmpathyCircles: A highly effective #Empathy building practice. http://EmpathyCircle.com    
#EmpathyTraining: http://BestEmpathyTraining.com

“Coming from a business perspective and not an engineering one allowed me to just ask questions and focus on empathy,” said Santangelo. “How is this actually going to work? Will it help the oncologist figure out the treatment options for this patient? Technology and empathy need to go hand in hand.”

Building the next generation of human-centered designers
Santangelo follows the principle of human-centered design, an approach to solving technological business problems that starts with empathetic questions. Why this product? Who are we serving? What do they need? What can the technology do? 

#EmpathyCircles: A highly effective #Empathy building practice. http://EmpathyCircle.com    
#EmpathyTraining: http://BestEmpathyTraining.com

Empathy has quickly become the new leadership buzzword. Some experts even debate the effectiveness of empathy versus compassion.

My work in the field of human care and connection began after a long career in corporate business development. In the aftermath of the tragic Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, I served the school and community for five years. During that time, I observed that those hurting hurt even more when people around them don’t know how to adequately support them. I realized quickly that the gap between empathy and caring actions I witnessed at Sandy Hook was happening everywhere: not just in crises and tragedies, but every day in communities, teams and workplaces and organizations.

#EmpathyCircles: A highly effective #Empathy building practice. http://EmpathyCircle.com    
#EmpathyTraining: http://BestEmpathyTraining.com

A new study led by researchers from the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência in Portugal has provided evidence of the chemical mechanisms behind the spreading of fear among zebrafish, hinting that human empathy could have originated in our aquatic ancestors hundreds of millions of years ago.

Seeing other members of a social group react in fear is handy for anticipating danger. With numerous eyes keeping watch, you have a better chance of getting out alive if you can detect another's panic at a glance.

#EmpathyCircles: A highly effective #Empathy building practice. http://EmpathyCircle.com    
#EmpathyTraining: http://BestEmpathyTraining.com

Empathetic leadership is much more than a feel-good addition to your skill set. It’s a must-have for leaders who intend to guide their companies to sustainable success. Happy employees are productive and invested. As Villanova University points out, the key to employee happiness is a workplace where they find trust, respect, security and a healthy environment.

#EmpathyCircles: A highly effective #Empathy building practice. http://EmpathyCircle.com    
#EmpathyTraining: http://BestEmpathyTraining.com

Folks, and it’s up to us. Democracy begins and will be preserved, and we the people’s habits of the heart — in our character, optimism that is tested, yet endures, courage that digs deep when we need it. Empathy that fuels democracy. The willingness to see each other not as enemies but as fellow Americans.

#EmpathyCircles: A highly effective #Empathy building practice. http://EmpathyCircle.com    
#EmpathyTraining: http://BestEmpathyTraining.com

Ajit believes one way to nurture an empathic culture at work is through storytelling, because human stories create connections and help weave a tight social fabric. He also encourages viewing empathy as a skill that can be developed and a strategy that can be deployed.

Bottom line: He invites us to imagine a world in which we can tap into 100% of each person’s potential, by practicing empathy. What he’s calling for sounds like an invitation to join the Empathy Revolution. 

#EmpathyCircles: A highly effective #Empathy building practice. http://EmpathyCircle.com    
#EmpathyTraining: http://BestEmpathyTraining.com

Many people seem to promote the value of empathy. Brené Brown’s 2013 YouTube video on empathy had 19 million views and all the reviews were positive. She was contrasting empathy with sympathy and made many good points. It certainly made empathy seem like a very important way to care about others.

However, it turns out that empathy is not necessarily a totally positive characteristic but rather one that results in pain for the empathic person. Certainly, being empathic results in people feeling understood and appreciated when they share things they are struggling with, but it can be exhausting and painful for the person responding empathically. It turns out that a more positive response is to activate our ability to be compassionate.

#EmpathyCircles: A highly effective #Empathy building practice. http://EmpathyCircle.com    
#EmpathyTraining: http://BestEmpathyTraining.com

By Jayme Waddell

Sometimes we focus so much on the strong and confident attributes we are trying to instill in our children that we forget some of the other very important traits they will need as they grow: empathy and conflict resolution skills. It might feel strange to put these two things together, but being able to feel empathy towards others will directly affect how they resolve conflict.  

As we build kids into strong, confident future leaders, we need to remember that leaders are also good listeners. Good leaders are also kind, can take criticism from others with grace, and can communicate their feelings in a healthy way. So how do we teach our kids skills like empathy and conflict resolution? 

#EmpathyCircles: A highly effective #Empathy building practice. http://EmpathyCircle.com    
#EmpathyTraining: http://BestEmpathyTraining.com

Oxytocin plays an essential role in the spread of fear in zebrafish, according to a new study, the results of which suggest a deeply conserved role for the hormone in emotional contagion – the basal form of empathy – among vertebrates like fish.

“The apparent concordance between mammals and fish of how oxytocin regulates empathetic behavior raises the intriguing possibility that the mechanisms underlying empathy and some forms of emotional contagion may have been conserved since fish and mammals last shared a common ancestor, ~450 million years ago,” write Ross DeAngelis and Hans Hofmann in a related Perspective.

Empathy, the capacity to recognize and respond to the emotional state of another individual, is a hallmark of highly social mammals. However, a growing body of research suggests that the capacity for empathy may be more widespread across vertebrate

#EmpathyCircles: A highly effective #Empathy building practice. http://EmpathyCircle.com    
#EmpathyTraining: http://BestEmpathyTraining.com

Build a culture of empathy in teaching and learning. The pandemic underscored that educational community building doesn’t happen naturally in online environments. It has to be intentional. During emergency remote teaching, instructors could no longer assume that informal social spaces such as the time leading up to the start and immediately following an in-person lecture, when students traditionally approach instructors and one another with questions, are sufficient to build community. Student relationships with faculty changed, too, as opportunities for networking and cultivating relationships were lost.

“The most basic form of empathy is contagious fear – that’s a very valuable thing to have to stay alive, if any member of your group spots a predator or some other danger.”

#EmpathyCircles: A highly effective #Empathy building practice. http://EmpathyCircle.com    
#EmpathyTraining: http://BestEmpathyTraining.com

There are three different types of empathy according to Jamil Zaki, as outlined in his book "The War for Kindness." They are cognitive empathy, emotional empathy, and compassionate empathy. Empathy is a learnable and teachable skill. Practicing and modeling empathy is important as a dad.