August 19, 2024
“Empathy” is a word that’s discussed often as a coveted leadership skill, and yet there’s still uncertainty – and some skepticism – about how much empathy matters in the workplace today. For some, empathy feels like a soft skill that may be difficult or impractical to apply, particularly when you’re leading a large team that don’t all know you as well.
And yet empathy remains one of the most important traits that employees look for in a leader. In survey after survey, employees say they greatly appreciate “empathy” in a leader. That fact was underscored recently in an employee survey we conducted with The Harris Poll that explored employee burnout.
Our study found more than 75% of employees and 63% of managers report feeling burned out or ambivalent in their current position. Yet for employees who are thriving, the attitude of their manager, as well as their level of empathy, were highly desirable traits. The study also highlighted that employees aren’t just looking for a culture of empathy from their direct managers but from upper management as well.
For the thriving group of employees, the top three contributing factors were:
- A manager invested in the employee’s success (61%)
- A manager demonstrating empathy (57%)
- Approachable senior leadership (53%)
What Is Empathetic Leadership?
Empathetic leadership is the ability of a leader to put themselves in someone else’s shoes and relate to their feelings and/or concerns. A leader who practices empathy has an ability to connect with their team and listen, communicate, and act in a way that shows their team they’re valued and appreciated. Empathetic leaders have been shown to have more engaged and higher-performing teams and a more profitable business overall.
In my leadership book, Heart First: What Exceptional Leaders Do in Extraordinary Times, empathy is a core component of what I define as “Heart First” leadership. I describe Heart First Leadership as championing empathy, humanity, and authenticity to build stronger, more trusting relationships and a thriving, purpose-driven organization.
When I was writing the first edition of Heart First during the pandemic, I learned from many leaders that what it took to be a great leader was clearly put to the test, not only during the pandemic but in the social and political unrest that followed it.
Since that time, many leaders shared that they’ve come to appreciate the power of being more authentic and empathetic with their teams. Along the way, they also discarded the masks we all tend to put on going to work to embrace more of who they are as people. Many leaders also now have a deeper appreciation for employees doing the same. In the end, this push for more humanity was seen by many as uniquely effective in building more solid, genuine relationships, the kind that can make a lasting difference in the culture of any organization.
Many leadership experts agree with me about the strengths of empathy in leadership. In a recent piece, Forbes contributing writer Tracy Brower argued that empathy is fast becoming the most important leadership skill. “You always knew demonstrating empathy is positive for people, but new research demonstrates its importance for everything from innovation to retention,” said Brower, a sociologist and contributing writer who has extensively researched work-life and employee happiness. “Great leadership requires a fine mix of all kinds of skills to create the conditions for engagement, happiness, and performance, and empathy tops the list of what leaders must get right.”
Characteristics of Empathetic Leaders
Based on my own experience in advising successful leaders across a wide range of organizations for over three decades, here are some of the most common traits of empathetic leaders:
1. They listen intently to employees.
I often describe this as the skill of truly “knowing your audience,” which means leaders are willing to commit to the work of listening with intention. To be genuinely empathetic, understand the real needs of your employees, then know how to balance those needs against the needs of the business.
Leaders who do this well understand that they can’t just come in with their agenda without first understanding what’s on the minds of their team members and the top questions or concerns they may need answered before embracing a new direction. Remember that no matter what you see as an urgent priority, your employees will still be asking, “What’s in it for me?” That’s why listening is so important.
2. They are committed to building a positive employee culture.
Empathetic leaders know that culture is especially important in today’s business environment. Employees want to feel part of a psychologically safe culture where they are invited to take risks and speak their truths, even when those truths might challenge the status quo.
When safety is established – often through genuine empathy and understanding from a leader – then employees feel free to take some calculated risks and propose creative solutions that drive innovation and breakthroughs. Further, people of different cultures, backgrounds, sexual orientations, and ethnicities need to feel they are respected and appreciated for who they are for leaders to create a truly connected and engaged team.
3. They prioritize employee well-being policies and practices.
Empathetic leaders understand the potential for employee burnout when employee needs aren’t being met, so they take action with concrete policies reflecting employee priorities, including flexible work schedules, generous vacations, benefits, and other related programs.
This work should include clear communication around company values, regular well-being check-ins, and a focus on prioritization so employees don’t get overworked and overstressed. If new tasks are being added to employee workloads, consider taking other things off the list to set more reasonable expectations.
Overall, employees need to feel they aren’t being taken advantage of at the expense of their personal well-being.
4. They help employees manage constant change.
We know from our own research, and that of many others, that one of the top drivers of employee burnout today is constant change. When employees repeatedly need to adjust and adapt to a new company strategy, they often feel change fatigue, which puts their well-being and the business at risk.
Empathetic leaders recognize this real potential and give employees the context behind why change is needed and the resources necessary to pivot to the demands of the business.
5. They communicate with their heart, not just their heads.
Empathetic leaders know how to genuinely show they care and recognize the moments that call for more “real” and relatable communication.
Maybe a group has just lost a valued team member due to an illness or other tragedy. Maybe they’re facing a demanding deadline from a client that’s requiring extra weekend hours. Maybe the team is undergoing a tough business challenge that’s keeping them up at night.
Whatever the cause, empathetic leaders take the time to call out those difficult moments, find ways to support the teams through them, and make it clear that the team’s extra efforts are not going unnoticed.
6. They ask the right questions and in the best ways.
Empathetic leaders approach each dialogue with the goal of learning something. Regardless of the employee’s level or role, empathetic leaders think of the person they are speaking with as someone who can teach them, and they have an open mind without pushing an agenda.
They initiate and guide the conversation with broad, open-ended questions that prompt dialogue and encourage employees to learn more.
7. They listen for total meaning.
Empathetic leaders understand that in addition to what is being said, sometimes the real message from an employee may be nonverbal or emotional. Tone of voice, crossed arms, and poor eye contact can be clues that someone is feeling they aren’t being heard or understood.
Showing empathy is about picking up on those signs, trying to relate to what someone might be feeling, and giving employees an opportunity to communicate their concerns rather than shutting down potential dialogue.
Why Empathy in the Workplace Matters for Business
Far from a soft skill, recent research makes a clear case for the enormous impact that an empathetic manager has on the bottom line in business. A big part of the story lies in what happens when employees don’t feel their managers are supportive. Naturally, they either feel burned out or checked out in their current role, or they become an immediate flight risk.
Top Reasons Empathy Pays Off:
- Reduces turnover costs. Many studies have found that turnover can cost companies 50-200% of an employee’s annual salary.
- Protects productivity losses. When employees feel unsupported and burned out because of a poor manager, engagement levels plummet. A 2023 Gallup report found that disengaged employees cost the world $8.8 trillion in lost productivity, or 9% of global GDP.
- Helps employees navigate the growing demands of work. When leaders were empathetic, 86% of employees were better able to navigate the demands of work.
- Promotes job fulfillment. Ninety percent of U.S. workers believe empathetic leadership leads to higher job satisfaction, according to a recent EY study. Furthermore, when employee experience is prioritized, job satisfaction improves.
Examples of Empathy in the Workplace
I see a growing number of leaders working hard to bring more empathy into their leadership style. Many leaders share that they feel more effective and more connected to their teams as a result. Here are some examples of empathetic leadership that stand out for me:
1. Tackling Burnout
Leaders of a prominent hospital group recognized the growing signs of strain and burnout among their healthcare professionals and started listening more to employees. They then identified the top needs and responded with various new efforts to combat employee turnover and increase retention.
Top hospital leaders also spent more time communicating with their teams in more personal and authentic ways, sharing their own stories about the challenges they faced and their vision for the organization's future. In that process, employees were also invited to share their hopes and dreams for their own careers, as well as for the organization as a whole.
2. Taking Time to Inspire
At a time when many employees were feeling stressed and uncertain about a new strategic direction for the company, a leading healthcare organization took a break from the normal routine to listen, pause, and reset.
Leaders held a well-planned, all-associate meeting that celebrated team wins and individual employees, codified the business strategy, and candidly addressed pressing employee questions and concerns with empathy and an open mind. The meeting concluded with a presentation from an inspirational speaker who offered guidance for tackling the specific challenges and needs of the team, helping to motivate the organization for the path forward and sharing a message of hope and support.
3. Inviting in the Employee “Story”
The CHRO of a medical device company we’ve worked with now looks at leadership in a new way that she believes is far more effective than how she led in the past. Today, she takes more time to listen to each employee’s “story” because, as she puts it, “everyone has a story…a story that helps define who they are, what they hope to accomplish, and what truly matters to them when it comes to work and life.”
She not only wants to hear their stories, but she shares her own more with them, taking off the mask she previously wore as a black woman leader trying to advance in corporate America. In the past, she tended to be much more private, separating her work and family life to such an extreme degree that it held her back from more meaningful working relationships.
By opening up and setting an example of candor and authenticity, she’s hoping to set a more empathetic tone with her teams as well.
How The Grossman Group Can Help
A big part of our work is supporting leaders in improving their communication and leading with empathy to motivate better, engage, and empower their teams so they can achieve great things together.
We also help leaders navigate their teams through changes in company strategy and direction, helping employees gain line-of-sight into how their work matters and how it connects to the larger mission and vision of the organization. There’s a lot of change taking place inside organizations today, and yet many change efforts fail. Often, among the biggest reasons companies stumble is a lack of consistent, effective communication, and skilled leadership.
We work with leaders to establish their core messages to communicate their vision and goals, personalized stories, and communication plans so they communicate strategy effectively and build meaningful connections with employees. We get to the bottom of what your audiences want to know, feel, and do, and develop and execute messages, plans, and tactics to drive action.
If you’re looking for a partner to help you or your organization navigate change or improve leadership communication effectively, reach out. We’d be happy to learn more about your needs and how we can help.
The Bottom Line
Without question, empathy is a critical skill that’s good for employees and good for business. And for most leaders, it just feels better to lead with empathy because it’s about being more human and relatable in your leadership style. Leaders can quickly see how employees embrace that approach.
As we learned from our recent research with The Harris Poll on employee burnout, culture matters a lot in building a highly successful organization. As it turns out, demonstrating empathy is one of the most important ways for leaders to build a top-notch culture.
While being empathetic might seem “soft” for some leaders, research tells us it’s far more than that. Instead, taking the time to focus on embracing and demonstrating empathy as a leader can be one of the smartest ways for leaders to build an outstanding team.
What’s the best example of empathy in leadership that you’ve seen in your career? What impact did the leader’s empathetic approach have on the overall team?
—David Grossman
For more on how to champion empathy, humanity, and authenticity to build stronger, more trusting relationships and a thriving, purpose-driven organization, click below to order your copy of the second edition of Heart First today:
Comments on this post