David Walton

effective listening skills

Sympathy stems from judgement of someone’s situation and is a reflection of how you feel. It is caring and helpful, but it is about you. And it may not employ many critical, analytical skills.

Empathy is about the other person’s perspective and feelings. Showing you understand enables you to get closer and gain trust. Most emotion‍

emotionally intelligent people draw on empathy as a tool for relationship-building and understanding problems. It is based on effective listening, communication and critical analysis.

is a neurological process; the ability to visualize emotions in other people is a survival tool which, because we are social animals, is hard-wired into the way all our brains work. You just have to activate it.

Cognitive intelligence – the ability to think rationally, act in a purposeful way and manage your environment. It’s your intellectual, analytical, logical and rational skill set.

and rational skill set.

Social intelligence – the ability to understand and manage situations which involve other people.

Self-awareness is about understanding ourselves and knowing what pushes our buttons and why.

Self-awareness is about understanding ourselves and knowing what pushes our buttons and why.

being in the ‘mindless’ state of automatic pilot opens you up to other problems. You can become prone to old habits and behaviours, perhaps leaving people feeling you aren’t interested in them. Events and situations around you can trigger old feelings and sensations which become barriers and make your mood worsen.