5 Ways to Be an Empathetic Leader

As our world continues to change rapidly, what remains the same is the need for leaders to be empathetic. While empathy has always been a key trait for a successful leader, it is even more important today with remote and hybrid work environments. Emotional intelligence and empathy were ranked as the most critical elements for a manager in a hybrid work environment, according to a recent Deloitte study. 

People are facing more challenges in their lives today than ever before, and many organizations have leaders with little or no experience leading during difficult times. While no organization is expected to take full responsibility for employees’ lives, those organizations that do prioritize their employees’ well-being reap the benefits of a more engaged, committed, and loyal workforce.  

Here are five ways to be a more empathetic leader: 

1. Be in Tune with Your Own Feelings

Empathetic leadership starts with being aware of your own feelings. Great leaders have a pulse on their own emotions, biases, areas for improvement, and strengths. 

Understanding your own emotions will allow you to role model behaviors that help employees feel psychologically safe in the workplace. It will also help you be better at empathizing with the feelings and experiences of others.

2. Be Deliberate

Leaders can start to cultivate a stronger focus on showing empathy in the workplace by being deliberate about self-care. This could include acts such as practicing mindfulness, pausing daily for gratitude, and strategically seeking ways to be more present in and out of the workplace. 

Self-awareness, another key factor in being deliberate, can be achieved through practicing active listening and seeking feedback. Giving employees undivided attention and asking questions in a nonjudgmental way will build trust and foster an environment of openness. Being deliberate about showing employees that their feelings are valued and that you have a real interest in listening to and absorbing what is being shared will go a long way toward helping those employees feel valued and appreciated. 

One question that sometimes arises from leaders is: “How can I be a better leader?” This question is usually focused on the business: how to increase revenue, how to get the right visibility to senior leaders, and how to make a difference in the organization and the community. Not enough leaders measure their success by their ability to effectively lead their teams. 

Whenever I have the opportunity to mentor and coach leaders, I take the time to probe and attempt to learn about their ability to effectively lead a team. I sometimes find myself reminding leaders that employees are looking to them to demonstrate what “good” looks like, making it crucial to be self-aware and deliberate about showing employees how they are feeling. 

Some leaders make the mistake of pointing to others in the workplace as role models and not being deliberate about role modeling behaviors themselves. Leadership starts with role modeling, and leaders can increase their empathetic capabilities by being vulnerable and showing employees that they, too, have feelings. This is also a step toward letting employees know that their feelings are valid and accepted. 

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” —Maya Angelou

3. Be a Champion of Inclusion 

Empathetic leaders create an inclusive environment where everyone can feel valued, heard, respected, and appreciated. A leader who is deliberate about embracing all employees will earn the support and trust of those employees. Employees will feel safe and secure in a working environment where a leader actively removes biases from business practices and does not tolerate inequality of any kind. 

Great leaders:

• Surround themselves with diverse talent. Leaders should go beyond hiring underrepresented groups. A leader with a diverse mindset spends time getting to know employees that represent groups he or she knows little about. 
• Ensure that inclusion is being modeled by employees. Empathetic leaders ensure that others in the organization are behaving in ways that include all employees, develop and promote underrepresented employees, and celebrate employee wins consistently across all employee groups.
• Promote diversity and embrace different perspectives. This involves creating opportunities for diverse voices to be heard, encouraging collaboration, and ensuring fair treatment for all employees.
• Know the numbers. What percentage of the employee population matches the customer demographics? How far off are the organization’s diversity numbers from the industry’s? Having these answers can help the leader set goals to increase diverse representation in the organization.  

Fostering an environment where employees feel included and accepted will drive engagement, retention, and an overall sense of belonging. Employees who feel that they belong will work harder to stay on the team and support the leader’s success, therefore building a stronger organization.

When setting goals to improve inclusion, it is important to set bold goals, communicate those goals to all employees, and ask all employees to play a role in achieving them. Involving the employee population will help hold leaders accountable and very clearly inform employees of the organization’s stance and intentions. Empathetic leaders employ diverse perspectives and are actively seeking ways to learn about, support, and empower various groups of people.  

As Brené Brown once wrote: “True belonging doesn’t require us to change who we are; it requires us to be who we are.”

4. Show that You Really Care

If empathy is a check-the-box exercise, it will become evident to employees. People can sense when an individual is being genuine in their actions and will quickly recognize leadership behaviors that feign authenticity. Empathy is built upon the ability to see things from another person’s perspective.

Empathetic leaders practice perspective-taking by imagining themselves in someone else’s shoes and seeking to understand their experiences, challenges, and emotions. This enables leaders to make more informed decisions, offer appropriate support, and address individual needs effectively.  

Empathetic leaders genuinely care about the well-being of their employees. They invest the time necessary to make personal connections with individuals.

Leaders seeking to better understand their team should spend time learning about employees’ aspirations and providing the support and guidance necessary for their development. Not every employee’s aspiration is realistic, meaning the leader should take time to prepare feedback that resets the employee’s expectations.  

Here are a few ways to connect with your team:

• Conduct regular check-ins. These meetings help leaders learn more about their employees, provide meaningful feedback, reset expectations, and support the employee’s journey toward a realistic career goal. Through regular two-way communication, the employee-leader relationship will no doubt be strengthened. By showing genuine care about—and support for—employees’ development, leaders foster a sense of trust and loyalty within their teams.
• Learn about your employees’ professional advancement interests. There is so much more to a person than their role within an organization. Leaders are encouraged to be curious and ask the right questions.
• Ask employees how they are really doing. When asked how they’re doing, most employees would respond with, “I am fine.” A leader could accept that and move on to addressing the most critical business item for the day, but many employees seek a leader who can recognize when they are holding back and need additional probing. Therefore, a leader might ask questions such as: “How are you feeling today?” “Is there anything that you need from me?” “How can I help you?” These questions will inspire a different response. Showing the human side, remaining curious, and giving employees the ability to express their real feelings will go a long way toward employees feeling seen and heard.  

5. Be Agile

Though there might be something very important going on in the business, leaders should be open to rescheduling meetings, ending some early, or repurposing a meeting to focus on a personal employee topic, if and when the need arises.  

It could make a big difference for one individual, and it could also extend beyond that individual. Pausing to recognize and acknowledge feelings will help leaders address opportunities for improvement.  

Looking Ahead

Leaders have a business to run, and that means needing to meet and exceed company metrics. However, pausing to show empathy and taking the time to be a leader who puts employees first—and a leader who understands their people—will go a long way.  

Role modeling empathy involves open and clear communication, vulnerability, and authenticity, especially when the stakes are high. Leading by example reinforces the importance of empathy in the workplace and sets the tone for a more diverse, positive, open, and caring organizational culture.  

The best leaders are empathetic. They are self-aware and inclusive, and they always pause to show that they care. A leader who cultivates these qualities creates a workplace where empathy thrives, relationships are valued, collaboration is the norm, and the organization is successful overall.

Prudence Pitter is the global head of HR for Amazon Web Services’ Auto/Manufacturing and Bus Development divisions.