Empathy As A Leadership Strategy- The New Wave of Female Leadership That’s Transforming Organizations June 5, 2022 by Belinda EganThe pandemic was a culture accelerator, and we really leaned into encouraging vulnerability, authenticity, and humanity in our leaders. Our boxes on the screen are all the same size. Our dogs are all barking in the background, our kids are pulling on all of our sleeves. It stripped away the hierarchy and made us all more human.” – Ann Powel, Chief Human Resources Officer, Bristol Myers Squibb Mckinsey’s 2021 Women In The Workplace study showed that women leaders consistently provide more support than their male counterparts to their employees in the following ways: Providing emotional support Checking in on overall wellbeing Helping to make sure workload for employees is manageable Helping to navigate work-life challenges Helping take action to prevent or manage burnout All of these actions come from a place of empathy – which, according to research, is far from a “soft skill” in modern times but is instead a powerful leadership strategy. Today we’re looking at ways to utilize empathy as a powerful tool of change within your organization. A caveat, though, before we dive into today’s topic: Empathy can sometimes feel like an unfairly gendered responsibility for women in the workplace, as they often feel the need to stand up for marginalized colleagues or “fix” workplace culture issues (which I covered in a previous article, found here) – because it comes more naturally to us to do so. Two conflicting research points about empathy at work make its role in a woman’s leadership precarious. Firstly, women that are perceived as “likable” (often because they display high empathy) are not usually also perceived as “competent.” This perception doesn’t bode well for women leaders who want to lean into empathy as a way to make fundamental changes in their organizations, and this needs to change. Meanwhile, women leaders are more successful than male counterparts at negotiating on behalf of others and providing additional support in the earlier mentioned ways. Women leaders are often installed in “crisis management” positions at organizations that are failing (referred to as “the glass cliff” phenomenon) because they’re effective at communication and problem-solving at the interpersonal level. So we arrive at the source of the conundrum: When women utilize empathy, they make significant changes. However, if they’re perceived as highly likable, they’re also perceived as less competent by others – which could be the reason why the top C-Suite positions are rarely occupied by women. Perception matters when it affects one’s career trajectory. If, instead, all leaders in an organization, men and women alike, adopt empathy as a corporate responsibility and practice it regularly, we can start to view empathy as a solid leadership strategy and an act of competence rather than a soft skill mainly used by one gender over the other. If you feel comfortable opening up the discussion about using empathy as a leadership strategy with your peers, you may be able to help shift the tide. But, once again – don’t put the burden on yourself! Look at it as a team challenge with many benefits. Engage in talks as a group where your male counterparts can feel comfortable talking about how they feel, showing empathy in their leadership roles. Conversations can change lives! That said, here are a few ways that utilizing empathy at work can make big waves in your leadership trajectory, and how empathy can positively affect your workplace culture. Listen to understand, not to respond. Empathetic leaders model openness and receptiveness by really listening to the experiences and challenges of their team members – not as data points for making a decision, but to gain a clearer understanding of team members’ realities. Especially in a leadership position, it becomes habitual to make executive decisions for the team based on a wide net of information. But when our brains are focused on making a decision, we’re not actively taking in any more information to help make the decision – only filtering through what we already know to take action. Practice asking open-ended questions to your team members about bottlenecks in productivity, their sense of work-life balance, and other cultural issues, and don’t look at these conversations as “action-taking” but as “possibility-exploring.” Don’t assume you have the answers. Let your team members show you what work-life looks like through their eyes. How this benefits your team: When people feel really seen, they relax a little. They start to feel safe to explore possibilities. They can feel free to suggest ways that things can be different. These are all positive mental shifts that help your team members stay engaged, loyal, and pursuant to success. Remember – empathy is scientifically-proven to increase productivity in the workplace! Model openness as much as possible for your team Openness and agreeableness go hand-in-hand: when people feel that you are open to their opinions and experiences, they will also feel that you are agreeable. This works in your favor when it comes to being a leader because people can feel safe to “challenge” you by offering a different perspective and allowing you to rise up, show your competence, and practice making decisions that will benefit your team. Openness can be modeled in many different ways, from the “open door policy” to asking team members to weigh in on difficult decisions that will affect the team and being truly receptive to their feedback. How this benefits your team: A team led by an open-minded leader will remain open-minded, curious, and lean into “good challenges.” They’re more likely to adopt a growth mindset and put in the effort to try things while embracing failure. This bodes well for your team and your organization to produce new, exciting results. Practice changing your mind Yes – believe it or not, practicing changing your mind can be a great act of empathy from a modeling standpoint! When you are practicing empathy by listening to understand and modeling openness to your team, it follows that you will also naturally become better at “getting out of your own way” and making multi-faceted and effective decisions influenced by the perspective of others. Nothing in life or work is static, and organizations can crumble quickly when they’re not willing to react quickly and change for the times. How this benefits your team: Showing your team that you’re willing and enthusiastic to change your mind when new info presents itself shows them that they can do the same – and that’s a very empathetic act indeed! Empathy is no soft skill. It can be a powerful tool of transformation in your leadership trajectory. If you want to learn more about leaning into “the good challenges” that will push you out of your comfort zone and bring you to new heights in your career, check out my free e-Book, “Unlocking The Power of Courageous Leadership.” It’s a quick but effective “check-up” on your values, beliefs, and natural skills as a leader that will help you highlight areas of possible development. On your team, Belinda Egan