The need for the leaders of today is empathy. It encourages commitment and cooperation, with companies even investing in training their managers to be more empathetic.

1. The Value of Empathy in Leadership
Years ago, I faced a conundrum at work. Two employees from the Sales team were at
loggerheads, often clashing over work and pursuing the same leads. Having to clear the matter
before business was affected, I decided to perform a deep dive into their psychology.
While they were both peers, there was a wide gap in seniority. The senior employee didn’t feel
threatened by the conflict however, the junior, more articulate salesman was worried that if he
took any advice, he would have to share credit.
In the approach to be empathetic, I understood that they were both fantastic salesmen but
needed a different structure to flourish under. As a result, we realigned the team with clearer
lines of hierarchy and responsibilities and separated the regions they worked in, giving them the
clarity and space that they needed.
What is Empathy?
The need for the leaders of today is empathy. It encourages commitment and cooperation, with
companies even investing in training their managers to be more empathetic. But what is it
really?
Empathy is the ability to understand another person experiences and feelings and being able to
share their thoughts and perspective. Moments of empathy occur every day in people’s lives,
whether it be understanding your children or a request from your boss. The effects of empathy
apply to other people's feelings and involve sorting through a large amount of information and
analysing it for patterns or insights.
The Importance of Empathy
Understanding what a person is going through is the first step to empathizing with them. It is not
necessary to agree with another’s feelings to be empathetic. Applying your awareness to their
feelings allows an empathetic person to know how they will be affected by words, actions or
events. This awareness is separate from agreeing with the person or relating to their issues,
allowing you to more accurately predict the outcome of decisions and actions with your target
audience and plan accordingly.
It is not easy being empathetic as a leader. You will need to understand the problems others are
going through and there to support them. It might inconvenience you but is integral to your
position as a leader. Being empathetic allows you to create situations for the people who work
for you to feel good about themselves and more positive.
Empathy at Work
Empathy is a soft skill well worth cultivating as it can easily lead to tangible improvements and
help naturally and consistently create bonds and connections with others. It facilitates the
creation of successful teams and inspires loyalty. Once you are able to identify and understand

2. another person’s situation, feelings and motives, you can recognise the concerns that people
have.
The benefits extend toward business as well, correlating empathy with increased sales and
performance and leading to a happier and more diverse environment. More commonly than
we'd like to admit, cross-functional teams often operate under the impression that they have to
look after the interests of their own departments. Be it Sales or Technology, empathy is a great
way to reach an agreement in a deadlock. Teams have to address their biases, understand their
needs and keep in mind that both teams are focussed on the same goal.
Empathy in Leadership
Being an empathetic leader is one of the most important factors influencing your workplace.
Empathy is based upon trust and allows you to show that you care for the feelings of your
employees even if you do not agree with them. Taking those feelings into consideration and
give can strengthen your relationships, collaboration and productivity.
Staff flourish when treated with empathy too, with greater job satisfaction and reduced
absenteeism as they feel more motivated and committed to the organisation. The positives of
being valued and appreciated not only affect work but also interactions with fellow employees.
Practising empathy passes throughout the organisation and helps increase teamwork and
decrease conflict.
Learning Empathy
Like any ability, the empathetic strength people innately possess differs from person to person.
Fret not if you do not have a high degree of empathic ability as developing this capacity requires
minimal effort. It does require you to distance yourself from situations, and purposeful thinking
on the feelings of others rather than yourself.
As a leader, your own feelings come second when your team is hurt or upset. Look to
understand your clients, colleagues and team and find out more about their thoughts and
feelings. Leaders that lack empathy makes employees feel like they are looking out for their own
interests and that their feelings are being ignored or overlooked. Sometimes the opposite can
be true as being too empathetic can negatively affect the decision-making process or lead to
negative thoughts.
Being a More Empathetic Leader
An empathetic leader will focus their full attention on the person they are speaking with while
ignoring distractions and interruptions. Observe their body language, voice and emotions to
know to pick up on verbal and non-verbal cues. While being a good listener is important,
talkative leaders can be effective as long as they are aware of other people's feelings and know
what to say and when.

3. Possessing emotional intelligence means that empathetic leaders are able to separate the
feelings of another person and analyse them in an objective manner. By not judging the person,
and taking their feelings into consideration, leaders can perceive the reasons behind actions.
Like any ability, empathy grows stronger the more we use it. Work on these suggestions and
observe the reactions of the people you work with. The joy will be in noticing ever increasing
positive results as you introduce these habits and practises in your leadership.