1) Single most important principle in the field of interpersonal relations is Empathic Communication, which means "Seek first to understand, then to be understood"

#Leadership #Communication #empathy

2) There are four forms of communication: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. We spend most of our waking hours communicating. The ability to do it well is absolutely critical for human effectiveness
3) We spend years learning how to read, write and speak but how about listening? What education or training have we had that enables us to listen so that we can really deeply understand another human being.
4)  We typically seek first to be understood. Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. They are either speaking or preparing to speak.
5) We are usually listening at 4 levels:
Ignoring - not listening at all
Pretending - "Yeah. Uh-huh. Right"
Selective Listening - hearing only selective parts
Attentive listening - paying attention and focusing on words
But we should practice the 5th level : Empathic Listening
6) Empathic listening means the intent to understand and it's different from "active" and "reflective" listening. This type of listening enables us to get inside another person's frame of reference. We see the world the way they see the world.
Empathy is not sympathy and the essence of empathic listening is not agreement but fully, deeply understand that person, emotionally and intellectually.
7) Empathic listening involves much more than registering, reflecting, or even understanding the words that are said. In fact, only 10% of our communication is represented by the words, rest 30% by our sound and 60% by our body language.
8) Lack of understanding result in poor responses and its autobiographical. 4 ways to respond:
Evaluate:either agree or disagree
Probe:ask question from our frame of reference
Advise:counsel based on our own experience
Interpret:explain others motives, behavior based on our own
9) These responses come naturally to us but it tries to control and invades the communication. Its self centered and never allows us to truly step inside another person, to see the world as s/he sees it until we develop empathic listening skill to do it.
10) There are 4 stages of empathic listening:
mimic content: it at least causes us to listen what's being said
rephrase the content: little more effective
reflect feeling: bring your right brain into operation
rephase+reflect: Paying attention and feeling what is being said
11) The discerning empathic listener can read whats happening deep down and can show such acceptance that other people feel safe to open up. Right understanding build right perceptions and we begin to appreciate the impact of differences as people try to work together
12) Once you truly understand another person, knowing how to be understood is the other half and is equally critical. Seeking to understand requires consideration; seeking to be understood takes courage.
13)  Essence of "to be understood" covered in Greek philosophy: ethos, pathos and logos.
ethos is personal credibility
pathos is empathetic side
logos - its the logic, the reasoning part 
Notice the sequence: ethos, pathos and logos and it must be followed
14)  It helps to present our ideas, PoV, thoughts clearly and more contextually. We are not wrapped up in our "own thing" delivering rhetoric but really understanding and responding which may even be different from others PoV.
15)  In summary, dont rush to fix things up with good advice but take time to diagnose, deeply understand the problem first, Build your credibility and prescribe advice with feeling and logic.

More from Bank

Last week the @ECB extended its current asset purchase program, now totalling €1.8 tn. Several EU states can borrow at negative interest rates.

10 years ago, the eurozone almost collapsed, a result of a misconstructed currency that was meant to fail from the outset.

A thread👇


1/Before the introduction of the euro, fluctuating exchange rates were seen as threat for economic integration & embarrassment for those who were inflating their currencies faster than others.

The European Monetary System, set up in 1979, was an attempt to stabilise fx rates.

2/The EMS was doomed to fail as members applied different monetary policies while trying to keep their fx rates in a pre-defined corridor.

The German Bundesbank refused to devalue the Mark when other centr. banks inflated their currencies - strengthening the Mark by comparison.


3/Traditionally, Southern EU countries have been more prone to inflation & high debt levels due to a large public sector, strong labour unions & generous pension systems.

Northern countries like Germany & the Netherlands typically had more prudent monetary & fiscal policies.

4/To get rid of the stubbornly conservative Bundesbank & monetise public deficits more easily, Southern countries spearheaded by France pushed for a single currency and used Germany’s desire for reunification in 1989 to make it give up the D-Mark.

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Why is this the most powerful question you can ask when attempting to reach an agreement with another human being or organization?

A thread, co-written by @deanmbrody:


2/ First, “X” could be lots of things. Examples: What would need to be true for you to

- “Feel it's in our best interest for me to be CMO"
- “Feel that we’re in a good place as a company”
- “Feel that we’re on the same page”
- “Feel that we both got what we wanted from this deal

3/ Normally, we aren’t that direct. Example from startup/VC land:

Founders leave VC meetings thinking that every VC will invest, but they rarely do.

Worse over, the founders don’t know what they need to do in order to be fundable.

4/ So why should you ask the magic Q?

To get clarity.

You want to know where you stand, and what it takes to get what you want in a way that also gets them what they want.

It also holds them (mentally) accountable once the thing they need becomes true.

5/ Staying in the context of soliciting investors, the question is “what would need to be true for you to want to invest (or partner with us on this journey, etc)?”

Multiple responses to this question are likely to deliver a positive result.
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Like company moats, your personal moat should be a competitive advantage that is not only durable—it should also compound over time.

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2/ Like a company moat, you want to build career capital while you sleep.

As Andrew Chen noted:


3/ You don’t want to build a competitive advantage that is fleeting or that will get commoditized

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4/ Before the arrival of recorded music, what used to be scarce was the actual music itself — required an in-person artist.

After recorded music, the music itself became abundant and what became scarce was curation, distribution, and self space.

5/ Similarly, in careers, what used to be (more) scarce were things like ideas, money, and exclusive relationships.

In the internet economy, what has become scarce are things like specific knowledge, rare & valuable skills, and great reputations.