Empathy is not just an emotion that lives inside your head. It’s not just the voice that asks you to see things from someone else’s perspective. It’s not even the sympathy pain you feel for someone else when they’re having a hard time. Actually, it’s all of these combined – the emotional, the cognitive, and the physical. And, most important, empathy is the superpower of great leaders.
The Emotional side of empathy: The sympathy you feel
The Cognitive side of empathy: The voice you hear
The Physical side of empathy: The pain you feel
Yes, we’ve all had leaders that were not natural “people” people. They’re usually not the best boss we’ve ever had, even if they’re good at other aspects of their job. The leaders we remember positively are charismatic; they make it a point to connect with and support their teams. The way they understand empathy paves the path to inclusion. For inclusion to be successful, a leader must harness the power of empathy, make it a priority, know that it is essential to see and feel from another person’s perspective, and put this into practice.
Some people may argue that they are not naturally warm people, that empathy is not in their wheelhouse, or that they simply have no more room to give. I’m making the argument that whether or not you feel it comes naturally, empathy is a key part of a leader’s job.
Application of empathy should be intentional and one way you show it is by how you use your time. One-on-one meetings are a great opportunity to build in and practice intentional empathy.
Here are a few ways you can do it:
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Swap out other tasks or delegate work in order to make room to talk and connect to people on your team.
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Value how people are doing. Great leaders know they need to be curious and listen without judgment. Their job is not be a rescuer, a therapist, or a savior. It’s their job to know how everyone is doing to help evaluate the health of the team. Is there fear? Are the organic demands unrealistic? Causing burnout?
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The best way to connect is through 1:1s and those 1:1s should never be rescheduled or thought of as “just a 1:1.” That time should be considered as GOLD. I heard this recently and it has been reverberating through my head since then.
What is the biggest impact you can expect from practicing empathy? A recent Stanford study showed that teams that performed well shared a common denominator of psychological safety. Psychological safety is a two-way street; meaning you can’t expect employees to feel safe without first creating safety and showing vulnerability yourself. The demonstration comes in the form of genuine care and curiosity about the well-being of one another and allows the space for the employee to feel that they can ask you the same questions you’re asking of them.
Here are some ways you can apply empathy today:
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Make the space to be curious about your team
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Show through genuine curiosity that you care how they are doing
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Allow them space to reciprocate the same
Empathy is a critical and nuanced skill for any leader. If you’d like to learn more, we’re here to help. Reach out to info@reverbpeople.com and we’ll get started.
