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Does your boss roll their eyes when you need time off last minute or get annoyed with you at the drop of a hat?

Then you're not alone. A study has claimed that most bosses lack the ability to empathise with co-workers.

It found that most people who rise to a position of power are emotionally inept compared to their lower employees. 

Travis Bradberry, president of California's TalentSmart, carried out a study on emotional intelligence. In an article for Forbes he said more senior people lack empathy (stock image shown). He found that CEOs had the lowest emotional intelligence (EQ) of anyone in the workplace

Ironically those who are most successful in their positions tend to be the ones who can emotionally connect with others.

Writing for Forbes, the president of California-based company TalentSmart - Travis Bradberry - laid out his findings.

He analysed the emotional intelligence of more than a million profiles in their database across a range of professions.

He found that, the higher up in a company you go, the lower your emotional intelligence becomes.

Middle managers were found to have the highest levels, around 77 per cent.

But it was a steady decline with promotions from here, dropping to just over 70 per cent for CEOs - the lowest in the workplace.

However, he also found that the top performers in each category were those with the highest EQ scores.

Mr Bradberry suggests, therefore, that getting promoted into a position of power doesn't necessarily mean you need to have a low EQ. 

Middle managers were the most empathetic with co-workers (stock image shown) in the study. The top performers for any level were always the people with highest EQ

'Whether you're a leader now or may become one in the future, you don't have to succumb to this trend,' Mr Bradberry wrote.

'Your emotional intelligence is completely under your control.

'Work on your EQ and it will boost your performance now and ensure that you don't experience declines as you climb the corporate ladder.'