Why Empathetic Leadership Matters

Empathy is essential for effective leadership. Why? It allows you to know whether or not you are connecting with the people you are trying to connect with. When a leader lacks empathy, you can’t build a supportive or productive work environment. You won’t inspire others or gain their loyalty, either. The secret to successful leadership and management is being able to see the other person’s point of view, and this is accomplished through using empathy.

Why Empathy is Key in Leadership

It’s hard to be completely sure about what is included in empathetic leadership and what isn’t. Empathy is the ability to understand and share another individual’s feelings and perspectives. You might think that empathy should be saved for our personal lives, but that isn’t further from the truth!

There are many tangible benefits that come from understanding what the people around us need, as opposed to making assumptions about what is required. Empathetic leaders who take the time to understand the needs of their workers can help give them the support they need to problem solve and achieve their goals.

In doing so, leaders build stronger relationships and a sense of trust and this may also strengthen the relationships between employees as well, which leads to more collaboration and improved productivity. 

So how can empathy benefit leaders?

Empathy makes employees feel valued and helps motivate them. 

Many leaders mistakenly think that if they demonstrate empathy that their team will lose focus and struggle to hit short and long-term goals. However, this just isn’t true. Empathy is a muscle that should be flexed when needed in order to reach your company’s objectives.

Practicing empathy will not decrease the drive to achieve, and it does not put you in a position of weakness. Instead, it shows your team members that you want them to perform to the best of their abilities. 

A survey revealed that a majority of CEOs believe that empathy is the key to success. Why? Because empathetic leadership leads to increased trust in management, prevents a toxic work environment and helps companies with improving their employee retention. 

Employees must feel valued to be engaged in the workplace and aligned with your company’s mission. The top leaders know that when their employees are happy and satisfied, they are much more motivated and much more likely to succeed. 

Empathy builds good faith with your business partners. 

Acts of empathy toward your employees and clients do not go unnoticed. Not only does empathy in leadership help generate value within your organization, but it also creates value outside of it. When you do things out of empathy, you help more people than you think you do. You will also be generating good karma for your business. Other businesses will want to work with you, your clients will start to recognize your good deeds and your brand will enjoy a positive reputation. 

Empathy boosts career advancement. 

No matter what role you play in an organization, you should embrace empathy if you’re striving to achieve a leadership role. For example, in a sales team, the obvious benefit of understanding empathy is being able to recognize and predict a customer’s needs, making it much easier for you to sell to them. 

In marketing, the value of empathy can be more subtle. But if you can discover what your audience wants and needs from your brand, then you can create campaigns that better suit them, are more effective and attention-grabbing. 

If you are already in a leadership position, without empathy you will not know whether your leadership style is effective until it’s already too late. Because empathy puts you in the shoes of others it helps give you insight into whether your behavior and approach is being received positively. 

This type of awareness is crucial for leaders who want to align their team around a central vision, inspire others, and build loyalty.

Empathy creates a productive workplace culture. 

Creating a positive work culture will lead to increased productivity because it helps give your team members a safe space to express their issues, removes any barriers to growth and makes them more resilient. 

One sure way you can achieve this type of culture is to create a space where open conversations are encouraged with active listening. Active listening increases emotional intelligence and encourages others to start cultivating their own empathy. This includes holding back judgment, which is not easy for a lot of people. 

Active listening takes practice and requires a lot of self-management and self-awareness to be successful. These things take time to develop. Having an open forum where employees are able to practice these skills will help towards developing a positive and productive company culture. 

Level Up Your Team With 1Huddle

1Huddle can help you and your team stay ahead of the learning curve. We offer cloud-based employee gamification software. You can customize your content for a seamless experience and all of your employees will be able to access their training anywhere, anytime and at the push of a button. You can use our game platform to measure their performance and make key decisions on where you should take your gamification strategy next. 

Do you want to learn more about how 1Huddle can help you level up your own workforce? Talk to us today.