Empathy is recognized as a factor that improves relationships and product development. While it's easy to say "put yourself in someone else's shoes," the reality is that understanding others' motives and emotions is a challenging skill. This book helps in understanding empathy, its significance, and the obstacles that hinder it, while also analyzing when excessive empathy can be problematic. It includes the work of Daniel Goleman, Annie McKee, and Adam Waytz. The "HBR's Emotional Intelligence" series offers significant reading on the human side of professional life from the pages of Harvard Business Review. Each book in the series offers proven research showing how our emotions affect our work, practical advice for managing difficult people and situations, and inspiring essays on how to care for our mental well-being in the workplace. Empowering and practical, these books outline the social skills that are critical for ambitious professionals.