Why Empathetic Leaders Are Winning the Hearts of Their Employees?

The German word “Einfühlung,” popularly known as “Empathy,” was one of the most remembered lessons in my early days as a sophomore. In our classroom, I could notice how my mates became confident, bold, and innovative when our teachers respected their opinions and conflicts and valued their emotions. I envisioned bringing this trait into my own leadership style. 

Today, the power of empathy is the desired goal of many CEOs and C-suite leaders. As a speaker at a few conferences, I often hear other leaders’ approaches toward their employees and teams. It is interesting to see how so many of them have replaced the words time-off, criticism, and command with unwinding, feedback sessions, and open discussion. Their approach to lead extends beyond considering empathy as a soft skill that adds an edge. They firmly believe that empathy is the default leadership style.

The Character Sketch of an Empathetic Leader

Empathetic leaders advocate essentials such as fostering cultural diversity and encouraging employee engagement. To have these two essentials in place, a leader needs to be an active listener, a good team player, and a compassionate individual. 

Such leaders showcase a holistic approach toward an issue or a challenge. They’re emotionally intelligent and view situations from an emotive viewpoint. Interestingly, even though they stay logical, their viewpoint helps them in making more humane decisions. Their ability to cover a 360-degree perspective makes them understand people’s stances quickly. They consider empathy as one of the best cognitive reactions and prefer to apply it during complex challenges, brainstorming sessions, interactions, town halls, or when making strategic decisions for their employees or firm. Their sole mission is to engage with their employees as long as they serve.

The Tribe of an Empathetic Leader

The changing leadership styles over the past few decades have strengthened my opinion that empathetic leadership can deeply impact the organization and its workforce. If you ever cross paths with empathetic leaders, pay attention to the tribes they lead, their teams, and every individual. Employees under such leadership, strive for engagement and strong support in the firm because their thoughts and ideas are understood and acknowledged. Teams under such leadership are loyal, productive, and have a high level of engagement. They know how to balance their work and personal space, and they know how to unwind after achieving their objectives.

Since a leader relates to their employee’s emotions, a trust factor is built within the teams and the overall workforce. This builds stronger teams, reduces workplace disruptions, and employees feel accountable to reward their CEO and firm with improved productivity and achieved targets.

Fortunately, during my tenure, I have been working with enthusiastic teams that nurture growth, facilitate flexibility, respect their leader, and value ethics and communication. This type of workforce supports a leader and takes an active role in the strategic decisions of the firm by owning responsibility to resolve conflicts. My team and I have been doing the same by providing all the other members with a platform to come up with the best innovative solutions to tackle problems. Little did I know the effort would generate a sense of belongingness among them.

Empathy Can be Learned

In the ongoing debate of whether empathetic leaders are born or made, I vote for empathy as an attainable quality. While some people are born with the trait of understanding situations compassionately, others may have to develop the capability to demonstrate the same. Leaders and CEOs all around the world can bring this perspective to their leadership style by firstly understanding the pain points of the workforce. Once a leader pays weightage to their employee’s well-being, the workplace starts cultivating compassion. The route to achieving that goal is, however, long and arduous. One of the most difficult hurdles is percolating the philosophy across an organization. It is difficult for the CEOs to be present when overseeing a global firm. Such CEOs, take the help of their team leaders or managers to establish the ideology across the firm. These leaders know that once all senior members of the organization start practicing the doctrine the organization will become more engaged.

What’s Your Approach?

The various leaders and CEOs I know, have their own ways of winning the hearts of their employees. In my role as a student and an empathetic CEO, I follow the route of empathy. I have seen its results, however, I’m open to learning more about yours.

Share your views and approaches in the comment.