Synanim operates to the idea that successful leadership starts with empathy, the ability to “put oneself in the other person’s shoes.” Empathy means getting inside the hearts and minds of those you wish to reach. Without empathy, a leader cannot build trust. And without trust, a leader cannot inspire best efforts.



 

In their book, Primal Leadership, Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee synthesized research data from nearly 4,000 executives. They concluded that empathy is “the sine qua non of all social effectiveness in working life.” They define empathy as “sensing others’ emotions, understanding their perspectives, and taking active interest in their concerns,” stating that:



 

Empathy means taking employee’s feelings into thoughtful consideration and then making intelligent decisions that work those feelings into the response. And, most crucially, empathy makes resonance possible; lacking empathy, leaders act in ways that create dissonance.
  (Primal Leadership, HBS Press, 2002)



 

Synanim can be embedded into training, team-building and communications development business processes. Participants typically find the experience transformative. Administrators find the leader.