Write down the first five words that come to mind when you hear the phrase “effective leader.” Don’t deliberate for too long, lest you overthink it.
Done? If you’re like most of us, you jotted down terms like “decisive,” “strong,” and perhaps even “ruthless.” These qualities are frequently associated with great leaders, and for good reason: many great leaders do embody them.
Yet great leaders are not all cut from the same cloth. Few, indeed, are one-dimensional. Many who come off as decisive, strong, and even ruthless also harbor deep reserves of kindness, empathy, and understanding.
This is certainly true of influential, effective individuals like David Miscavige, leader of the Scientology religion, who took the reins of his organization from its founder in the 1980s and guided its global expansion. Executives like Miscavige understand that balance is key to enduring leadership, and that empathy for those they serve is key to achieving that balance.
Perhaps that’s why 88% of workers surveyed by EY believe “mutual empathy between company leaders and employees” leads to increased efficiency, and a nearly equal proportion believe mutual empathy is key to creativity, job satisfaction, idea sharing, and innovation in the workplace.
Let’s take a closer look at these and other hidden (and obvious) benefits of empathetic leadership:
- Colleagues View Empathetic Leaders More Favorably
Even if it’s not always practiced, empathy is an attractive trait that most people aspire to have. It follows that your colleagues are more likely to view you favorably when you practice empathetic leadership. Even making it clear that you’re “trying to do better” can boost your professional reputation.
It’s not just your colleagues who’ll notice. Your superiors likely will as well. And if they’re interested in managing (and improving) the organization’s reputation, they may reward you for it. More on that below.
- Direct Reports’ Performance May Improve Under Empathetic Leadership
Practicing empathy only for performative, self-interested reasons leaves a lot out of the equation. It may be a missed opportunity, in fact.
Directing your empathetic leadership style toward your direct reports won’t just make their working lives more tolerable. It could measurably improve their performance, boosting your reputation as a leader in the process. Over time, this benefit may build on itself as your team attracts more high-performers and does a better job of retaining its current stars.
- Empathy “Greases the Wheels” Internally
Teams led by people who practice empathy tend to run more smoothly than others. They may be “happier,” too, to the extent that this can easily be measured. They certainly enable more effective communication and a greater sense of cohesion, says workplace efficiency expert Kara Dennison.
“Empathetic work cultures encourage positive feedback, recognition, and consistent appreciation,” Dennison says. “When people feel regularly valued, they feel part of a workplace community.”
From this simple fact follow many of the benefits of empathetic leadership described below.
- Empathetic Workplaces Are Creative Workplaces
When employees feel supported in their work, they feel freer to pursue more ambitious and impactful projects. This can happen even when those projects appear not to have any immediate bottom-line benefit, as long as leadership has the empathy (and foresight) to allow them to develop.
Some of the most effective companies of the past two or three decades — think Google and Apple — formalized this dynamic through policies that allowed many team members to work on “moonshot”-type projects on company time.
- Empathetic Workplaces Are Innovative, Too
The two companies mentioned above, one of which until recently followed the mantra of “don’t be evil,” are broadly recognized as unusually innovative. There are many other such examples of workplaces gaining in productivity and output after recognizing the importance of collaborative, understanding leadership.
- Empathetic Leaders Can Better Manage Diverse Teams
Empathy does not always correlate with an expansive, understanding worldview. Not always — but most of the time, it does. When it comes down to it, empathetic leaders are better able to manage teams with a wide diversity of viewpoints and preferences. They have a knack for getting more from groups of individuals who’d be very unlikely to freely associate outside of work.
- Empathy Is a Reputational Tailwind for Organizations
Looking for ways to improve your company’s reputation? Start by fostering a culture of empathy and understanding. If you follow through on this, you may set your organization up to enjoy a classic flywheel effect: a virtuous circle where morale and performance improve within the organization, raising its external reputation.
Whether you’re seeking fresh, high-quality talent to achieve your business goals or hoping to separate your brand (in a positive way) from competitors, this is a worthy aim.
- Teams Are More Adaptable and Resilient When They’re Led With Empathy and Understanding
Even organizations that appear to fire on all cylinders face challenges from time to time. Sometimes, those challenges evolve into genuine crises.
We can’t predict when or where these will strike. If we could, we’d be able to head them off. However, what we can do as leaders is ensure our teams are set up to face them as best they can. And because studies show that teams helmed by empathetic leaders are more adaptable and resilient against adversity, that part of the assignment, at least, is clear.
Be Kind, But Decisive
It’s clear that empathy and effectiveness work well together. If you aspire to be a leader capable of inspiring others to do their very best, you’d do well to recognize this.
This is not to say that effective leaders must be “nice” to a fault. Far from it: True leaders emerge precisely when difficult decisions must be made, at which point they act swiftly and decisively.
Even then, of course, great leaders show empathy. They recognize that while difficult decisions can’t always be avoided, they can be made with a measure of grace. It’s what they’d want were the shoe on the other foot.
