As we continue to evolve the ways we work, how we show up as empathetic leaders will underpin the success, or failure, of our organizations to attract, retain and motivate the best talent. Empathy is widely talked about as a leadership quality but vastly misunderstood as a foundational approach to driving organizational growth and navigating uncertainty.
Empathetic leadership is proactive leadership
Empathy is often misconstrued as a way of responding or reacting in challenging situations. Empathy is a mindset more than an attribute. When applied in a leadership setting, it acknowledges the holistic person, their strengths and aspirations, instead of the employee defined by the role they hold today. Empathy isn’t an emotion, it’s a choice. Being an empathetic leader isn’t about being nice or sensitive, it’s about showing up with intention and choosing to harness people’s innate capabilities and foster greatness. It’s the difference between telling employees how to solve a problem and developing people that can craft solutions in their own way.
Empathetic leaders are effective leaders
Connected to the misconception that empathy is a soft skill is that leading with empathy competes with generating results. Empathy is not about a laissez faire approach to managing people. Empathetic leaders take time to curate a management approach that optimally develops people based on who they already are. And when people feel aligned to who they are and what they want they bring their best self to work, and they will show up in the best way.
Empathetic leadership makes people better and more effective at their jobs. A Catalyst study found that people with empathic managers were 34% more innovative than those with less empathic managers; 43% more engaged in their work, and nearly twice as likely to report feeling valued. An even more pronounced effect was seen among women and particularly women of color.
Empathetic leadership is defined by how you navigate crisis
Every leader has had to navigate during times of uncertainty. It is the challenging times of uncertainty where empathy is most critical and when people matter most—their thinking, their creativity and most importantly their energy and desire to bring that forward and build solutions.
Too often, leaders plan for the best-case scenario and react in the worst-case scenario. This is the opposite of what Erika James and Lynn Perry Wooten, authors of The Prepared Leader: Emerge from Any Crisis More Resilient Than Before, call Prepared Leadership, “the belief that even in times of crisis, people and organizations can emerge more resilient, stronger, and better than they were before.”
Prepared leadership requires bringing people within the organization along on the journey, even when it’s bumpy. The most effective leaders maintain a calm and steady presence during times of crisis because they have developed people within their organization who want to stand by their leader and are equipped and empowered to navigate the challenges ahead.
Ultimately, leading with empathy requires:
- Making people feel heard and valued. Smart leaders know they don’t have all the answers and instead surround themselves with diverse perspectives that allow them to make informed decisions. Ask people for their perspective, and actively consider their inputs when making decisions.
- Replacing DE&I and retention strategies with empowerment strategies. The former often focuses on short-term and narrow fixes to “keep” people from leaving instead of roadmapping broader personal and professional growth opportunities for people to thrive on their own terms. Start by understanding the strengths, challenges, and aspirations of each individual and architect a customized plan with clear KPIs that managers can seamlessly implement and execute.
- Failing by example. Crisis and failure are inevitable. Empathetic leadership must remain the constant that delivers the kind of resiliency and collaboration required to weather challenging times. People are more likely to stand by the steady leader who brought calm and resolve to a time of crisis than an authoritative one who delivered success at the expense of their people. Stay the course that places values first on and your people will stay with you.
Davianne Harris is chief client officer and head of the equitable futures practice at Omnicom’s cultural intelligence consultancy Sparks & Honey.
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