FYI the “The Importance of Empathy in Our Services-Centric, People-Oriented Economy" requires an account to view the article.
Empathy helps you to anticipate and gauge user’s needs in order to build more user-friendly software. Empathy is important when working on a team because no one will want to build code with you if you’re a jerk.
Also, “empathetic listening increases our ability to receive information.”
I find it most difficult to be empathetic when dealing with management and trying to see their point of view. It’s easy to dislike your boss when you don’t actually recognize them as a person and view their decisions as insensitive.
How to practice becoming more empathetic: 1) practice radical listening and respond to / paraphrase / or disagree/agree with what the other person says before saying your own thoughts; 2) look for the human behind everything and 3) become curious about strangers and start conversations with them ("Don't be an examiner, be the interested inquirer." aka don’t interrogate people).
“Self-awareness is the ability to notice your state of being and have a clear perception of your strengths, weaknesses, thoughts, beliefs, motivation, and feelings. When you practice self-awareness, you learn to better understand your emotions, like anger, fear, self-criticism, or anything else that might hinder your ability to think clearly or collaborate with others.”