Empathy

If you want to become a more effective leader you have to slow down and listen up.

How are your people coping with the pace of your business?

A manager answers, “They’re keeping up with the workload.”

A leader answers, “I’m keeping up with how they’re each doing.”

Empathy is a critical leadership skill in our dynamic and team-centric world of work.

Yet many managers prioritize the work over the worker—they believe that showing emotion means showing weakness.

In my experience, this is a career-limiting attitude.

Leaders make the time to understand each team member’s personal experience at work—and to the degree they’re comfortable, beyond work.

Open the door to demonstrate that you care.

You don’t even have to solve all of their problems—you couldn’t if you tried.

To bring more empathy to your leadership:

> Put yourself in listen mode instead of solution mode
> Ask questions that surface their unique needs, experiences, thoughts, feelings
> Help where you can; show compassion where you can’t
> Encourage self-care when needed
> Be a real person and not just an “at work” person

Make the effort and you’ll likely be rewarded with their loyalty, performance and a developing reputation as a strong and capable leader in your organization.

Now, how would that feel?