The most effective leaders are curious perspective gatherers. They actively take in and process information as part of sense-making that helps inform team building and team leadership, decision making, and action. Empathy plays a role in that process, because genuinely relating to, say, a team member’s challenge and its possible impact helps establish mutual respect and trust. Moreover, actively empathizing fosters understanding and lays a foundation for expressing compassion and collaborating to find solutions. Practicing empathy, honestly and genuinely, supports a team’s mental health, and there is a clear business end, too: productivity. Considering the stressors and complexities that affect organizations’ work today, my view is that empathetic leadership is a competency that has taken on increased importance. In our firm, we seek it in our team members and the candidates we vet for client organizations.
Of course, leaders cannot stop at empathizing. Empathy interrelates with other leadership competencies, and leaders must take some action. That said, the presence of empathy correlates with achievement. According to a Harvard Business Publishing analysis of factors contributing to high organizational performance, respondents from the top 7 percent of participating organizations were significantly more likely to have said that empathy is emphasized in their cultures. Sadly, it appears that empathy in leadership is not practiced well enough yet. According to a Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning post, “Empathetic Leadership: How to Go Beyond Lip Service,” 78 percent of senior leaders acknowledge the importance of empathy, but only 47 percent believe that their companies are effectively practicing it. Accordingly, developing greater empathy in leadership reflects an opportunity—for leaders themselves as well as talent professionals such as those represented in Panorama.
Empathetic leaders have a knack for genuinely intuiting matters from others’ viewpoints and conveying to their team members and colleagues that they get it. They also ask directly for viewpoints, and they internalize the importance of doing so. Team members and colleagues know genuine empathy when they experience it, and when they do, they gain trust in the idea that their views and needs are understood, valued, and essential to the business. This can lead to innovation and productivity.
It is not enough for leaders to practice individual empathy—for example, asking themselves, “Were I in that position, what might I be thinking?” They also must ask their teams directly and listen to their responses with the goal of understanding and factoring their enhanced outlooks into better-informed planning, decision making, and when necessary, navigation of difficult organizational moments. Further, the best leaders model empathy as an organizational value. Why is that important? The short answer is that empathy yields positives for the team and the business. While a few years old now, Catalyst data cited in a Forbes article points to benefits, identifying as part of a longer list greater employee capacity for innovation (61 percent) and better engagement (76 percent) among employees with empathetic leaders.
More recently, Rebecca Knight, writing in Harvard Business Review, put empathetic leadership and five other skills in the framework of the times, quoting Kirstin Lynde, founder of leadership development firm Catalyze Associates, as saying: “The best leaders of the twentieth century were question answerers, setting the vision and strategy from above. “But the best leaders in the twenty-first century are question askers. They seek feedback and new perspectives, and they ask curious questions about themselves, their teams, and their environment.”
Considering the complexity and stressors that all leaders and their teams face, that approach is exactly right. Leaders must bring empathy to work every day, adapting its practice to the situation. In the best of times, empathetic leaders seek greater understanding by relating to their colleagues, they promote vibrant teams, and they encourage ideas to improve the enterprise. Conversely, if the environment is changing—financially, politically, or otherwise—empathetic leaders recognize that team members may be anxious about the future, and they emphasize careful listening, open and transparent communication, acknowledgment of challenges, and shared plans for addressing difficulties. During the toughest times, empathetic leaders take a human-first approach—creating forums to hear and value team members. And if drastic measures are necessary, they take them as humanely as possible.
Empathy is a leadership skill—and a valuable one at that. While the capacity for demonstrating empathy in leadership is not the defining mark of successful executives, it is a skill that sets apart those who have it from other top leaders. As professionals in executive recruitment, we are in a prime position to find and foster talent who view empathy as a crucial skill for team development, organizational culture, and performance. The organizations we serve will be better for it.
