Are You an Empathetic Leader?

Capacity for sharing the feelings of others makes good business sense. 

In 1879, Thomas Edison began perfecting the light bulb. This was a very tedious and difficult task. It is reported that Edison experimented with more than 6,000 filament materials before he discovered the right composition of electricity and material to create a light bulb filament that would burn for an extended period.  

In his home workshop, Edison toiled day and night, and working alongside him were several young apprentices. The story goes that when Edison finished building one light bulb, he carefully gave the light bulb to a young apprentice to carry upstairs. The boy cautiously carried the light bulb, step by step, slowly walking up the steps while staying deeply focused on watching the light bulb in his hands. As the boy approached the top of the stairs, he dropped the light bulb down the stairway, and it shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces.  

The apprentice felt horrible about what had just happened. It took Edison’s team another 24 h to build another light bulb, and when the team finished building it, Edison handed the light bulb to the same apprentice to have him carry it up the stairs. Edison understood how it felt to be a disappointment, and the boy fully expected Edison to have someone else carry the lightbulb. Edison, however, knew the boy would be extra careful the second time, and he also did not want to crush the boy’s spirits. This is a perfect example of empathetic leadership in action.  

According to Tony Robbins, founder of Robbins Research International, Inc., “Empathetic leaders take a genuine interest in the people around them.” Empathetic leaders will honestly try to discover the motivation and desires of others. In today’s challenging business environment, leaders who have the capacity to internalize and share the feelings of others and leaders who are committed to placing the interest of the people they lead above their own will significantly impact their company’s bottom-line performance and increase employee workplace satisfaction levels.  

A study in 2021 by New EY Consulting confirms 90% of U.S. workers believe empathetic leadership leads to higher job satisfaction and 79% agree it decreases employee turnover. The same study reported on the leadership qualities employees look for in a senior leader. The top five are: 

Open and transparent (41%) 

Fair (37%) 

Follows through on actions (37%) 

Encourage others to share their opinions (36%) 

Trusted to handle difficult conversations (34%) 

Recently, there have been many discussions about the “Great Resignation.” Many businesses leaders have been quick to blame COVID-19, lack of remote workplace arrangements and disengaged Generation Z employees for why employees have been resigning in large numbers. While some of these factors may contribute to why employees resign, the main driving reason for why employees quit is their boss! More than (58%) of employees have previously left their jobs because they didn’t feel valued by their boss, and nearly half (48%) have left a job because they didn’t feel like they belonged.  

So why should you consider adopting a more empathetic leadership style? Because it makes good business sense and having a more empathetic leadership style leads to higher employee satisfaction and lower turnover. According to the New EY workplace study, there are tangible benefits to prioritizing empathy in the workplace. The study reports an increase in four main areas of the business organization:   

Efficiency (87%) 

Creativity (87%) 

Innovation (86%)

Company Revenue (81%) 

As you look ahead to 2024 and beyond, I encourage you to adopt a more empathetic leadership style. Some practical things you can do include scheduling more one-on-one time with your employees, providing opportunities for feedback, creating team building opportunities and encouraging open-door discussions, even about difficult company topics. 

By adopting a more empathetic leadership style, you will discover more joy in your day-to-day work life, people will want to work with you and will respect you more as their boss. I will close by sharing one of my favorite quotes to live by, in business and in life: “To handle yourself, use your head: To handle others, use your heart.”  — Eleanor Roosevelt