Men are often accused of not being emotional, not being empathetic. It’s an unfair accusation. We do feel. We do care. Sadly, many of us just don’t know how to express it.
For most men, any training in Masculine Emotional Intelligence™ was non-existent. We had no male role models, no male teachers showing us how to be emotional as a man.
Empathy is sharing in another’s emotions, thoughts or feelings. It’s another skill most men weren’t taught. We were taught to hide our feelings, to pretend not to care. That might work on the battlefield, but it doesn’t work in interpersonal relationships and certainly not in a marriage.
I did a panel with my business partner Ken Solin and Edwin Rutsch of Center for Building a Culture of Empathy that explores how men can easily learn Masculine Emotional Intelligence™ and empathy through men’s groups (a men’s micro-community). These are some of the topics we touch on in this video of the panel:
- What is the best way to educate men about empathy, and teach the skill?
- Why are men behind on the empathy curve?
- Why hasn’t someone ever offered to guide men around starting a micro-community (men’s group) until now?
- How can a man start his own micro-community?
- What is Masculine Emotional Intelligence™?
- How would men sitting together shift the “culture of empathy”?
What are your challenges with learning Masculine Emotional Intelligence™ and empathy?
Photo by Mohammadali f. via Compfight
