Online Instructor-Led Empathy Training Course for Leaders

Course Outcomes

This web-based empathy program for leaders will:

• Define seven types of empathy.
• Explain the positive effects of empathetic leadership.
• Discuss the negative results a lack of empathy can create.
• Demonstrate one-to-one empathy.
• Outline an ecosystem where organizations and people flourish when leaders regularly leverage connection and empathy.
• Explain six fundamental needs employees share.
• Identify each participant’s top character strengths.
• Offer strategies to leverage those strengths to create a culture that meets employee needs.
• Discuss design and the role of empathy in creating well-designed processes and products.

Course Overview

When it comes to leading with empathy, there’s a lot more to it than learning some people skills and how to walk in another person’s shoes. This three-part course is designed specifically for groups that want to approach empathy strategically and learn how to create an empathetic ecosystem at work. The program addresses the benefits of empathetic leadership, the negative results a lack of empathy can create, the various ways empathy manifests, five fundamental needs employees share, and how leaders can leverage empathy to create a connected culture that creates an environment where their employees and organization can flourish and thrive.

Pre-Work

Complete an individual empathy assessment.

Segment One

At this segment’s conclusion, participants should be able to:

• Define empathy and why it is an important competence in the arena of emotional intelligence.
• Explain the benefits of practicing empathy as a leader.
• Distinguish empathetic statements from other assertions.
• Apply the Triple-A Empathy Framework to workplace communication.
• Explain the connection between empathy and effectiveness.
• Practice tactics for building a capacity for empathy.

Segment Modules

• Understanding Empathy: What It Is and Why It Matters
• Triple-A Empathy: Assess, Acknowledge, and Act
• Communicating with Compassion: Concrete Steps to Show Concern
• Going Forward: Building Skills

Homework

Complete a character strengths assessment.

Segment Two

At this segment’s conclusion, participants should be able to:

• Explain the difference between a listening and telling mindset and the characteristics associated with each.
• Discuss three parts of the brain and how each affects the listening process.
• Apply tactics for “calming the lizard” and “managing the monkey.”
• Create a focusing statement.
• Identify the element of undivided attention.
• Practice tactics for withholding judgment.
• Apply an empathy continuum.
• Practice mature empathy with deep and strategic listening.

Segment Modules

• Listening: An Essential Ingredient
• The Brain and Listening: How We’re Wired
• Practical Tools: Focusing Tactics
• Mature Empathy: Putting It Together

Homework

Read two assigned articles.

Segment Three

At this segment’s conclusion, participants should be able to:

• Explain how the SHOES model connects to the Triple-A Empathy Framework.
• Pinpoint three behaviors that if exhibited at work would improve empathy.
• Adopt body language that communicates empathy and understanding.
• Identify destructive communication patterns that prevent empathy.
• Apply the SHOES model to real-world situations.

Segment Modules

• My Shoes: Your Shoes
• Listening: Behaviors That Will Move the Needle
• Another Channel: Fluency in Body Language
• Pattern Breakers: Overcoming Empathy Roadblocks
• Bit by Bit: Putting It Together

By the conclusion of this three-part course, participants should be able to leverage empathy as they lead their teams and complete their work.