What Is Empathetic Leadership?
It struck me recently how often I see the words “empathetic leader”. Sometimes, this is an individual describing a former manager. More often, it is someone describing themselves as having an “empathetic leadership style”.
What does it mean to be an empathetic leader? Imagine you’re at a supermarket and you see an “Organic” label on a food product. All it takes is a label or sticker to make the claim, but how do you know for sure?
I have personally understood empathy to mean that one is sensitive to (and understanding of) the experiences, feelings and thoughts of others. It is a way of being. It is not a style to be tried on and discarded, and it’s not something to aspire to only when it is convenient for you.
In my experience, empathetic leaders are:
Good listeners, with great follow-through
Open to feedback, and act on the feedback
Care about you, and more importantly, respect you enough to be candid with you
Clear about their expectations, and transparent about their actions and decisions
It’s a high bar to meet, but it comes down to having firm values and principles and seeking to exercise those principles consistently.
What does empathetic leadership mean to you? What are some other principles that you’ve seen empathetic leaders follow consistently?
If you’re in a situation where you get to interview your future manager, consider asking:
What’s some feedback you’ve received recently? How did you act on it?
Can you tell me about a difficult conversation you had recently? What made it difficult? How did you deliver the message?
How will you set expectations with me? How often will we revisit them?
Can you tell me about a decision you made recently? How did you communicate the thought process that went into making the decision?
“Empathy is about finding echoes of another person in yourself.” - Mohsin Hamid