The Benefits of Empathy for Leaders

Growing up, my mom taught me to “look out for the underdog.” At the time, it meant to stick up for the kids being overlooked in school and sports while ensuring that no one was bullied. As I got older, I realized that she was also teaching me about empathy. Empathy not just in my personal life, but also in my professional life in the years to come. Over time, I learned to appreciate the impact of empathy on my ability to lead as well as to coach others in their quest to becoming a great leader.

In business, leaders are regularly praised for their ability to communicate as well as to empower and motivate their team members, though underlying those abilities is a healthy dose of empathy. Empathy for others that supports their ability to engage more effectively with their teams leading to a number of key benefits. Despite the impact that empathy has on leaders’ ability to lead, empathy is an often overlooked skill of the best leaders.

Before jumping into the benefits of empathy, it’s important to clarify the difference between empathy and sympathy as those words are sometimes used interchangeably. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another - this is what we are talking about here. Sympathy on the other hand, is a feeling of pity and sorrow for someone else's misfortune.

The Benefits of Empathy

Empathy Creates Connection
At the most fundamental and human level, greater understanding of others and their feelings yields stronger connections between individuals as well as in a broader team. Leaders that embrace storytelling during team building events and even in regular team meetings will naturally increase the level of sharing within the team resulting in greater understanding and real bonds among team members. That ability to connect with others relies on empathy.
Empathy Increases Engagement
Leaders who practice empathy with their teams will also see a rise in employee engagement through stronger relationships among team members as well as between leaders and their direct reports. Higher employee engagement is correlated directly with retention, so practicing empathy also can offer the practical benefit of lowering turnover as well as hiring costs.
Empathy Supports Diversity
The ability to understand others and walk a mile in their shoes helps leaders appreciate differences among team members who have diverse backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and personalities. Being empathetic and championing empathy on your team will help create a common understanding of others and support a strong, cohesive, and inclusive team dynamic.
Empathy Improves Communication
The ability to be empathetic also supports stronger communication within teams. Most people assume that other people want to be communicated with in the same way that they do, but that is in fact not the case. People who are more direct, for example, need to blunt their communication style and use more facts and data when communicating with people who are more detail oriented and methodical. Practicing empathy allows leaders to appreciate the differences in others and allows them to show up differently and also tailor their communication based on those differences.
Empathy Provides a Pathway to Resolve Conflict
If not managed effectively, conflict has the potential to destroy even the best teams. The ability to resolve conflict often relies on seeing a situation from the other person’s perspective. Practicing empathy will help you see other perspectives, find points of mutual agreement, set the table for a healthy dialogue, and create a pathway to resolve the conflict successfully.
Empathy Boosts Innovation
The ability to see things through the eyes of your customers will support greater innovation within your team and organization. IDEO, the leading human-centric design firm, puts empathy at the center of its design thinking process. Putting yourself in the place of your customers allows you to solve problems most critical to them as opposed to what problems you and your team think you should solve. Practicing and supporting empathy within your customer facing teams and with team members will provide a booster shot of innovation in developing new products and services as well as the modes of delivering those items to customers.

While not always listed at the top of leadership qualities, empathy is a critical skill for leaders today. Empathy is great in and of itself, but it also goes a long way to supporting other leadership qualities that will help you successfully lead your team and organization over the long haul.