why is empathy important?
Can you feel it? The tides of the workplace norm are quickly shifting. Which side are you on? Are you stuck in the past where traditional plug-and-play marketing methods are fading away as the revenue runs dry? Or are you sinking into your more empathetic side to support a lean team through every ebb and flow of the business world?
Melodramatic maybe, but true nonetheless. Without a doubt, the business market evolved, and the typical consumer avatar shifted in the past few years. No industry was safe from this drastic change.
Clients know they deserve more when it comes to the customer journey, and they're not afraid to keep searching until they find a company that is willing to make good on their investment. Right now, you need to ask yourself one simple question ... Are you that company? Better yet, are you that leader?
The answer to these questions, among other factors, lies in your ability to empathize with both your clients and your team.
To create a meaningful customer experience, you have to know how to read people's nonverbal cues, understand their verbal language and see the world from their perspective — not just your own.
It takes a high level of emotional intelligence to truly comprehend what others are experiencing and then be able to adjust your words or actions accordingly. This is the empath's gift. Being an empath doesn't mean you are a pushover.
We both know you can't let others run over you if you desire to be a true titan of business. That being said, your team members need to know that when they come to you with concerns, you've got their back — always.
On the other hand, clients need to feel confident in your abilities from the start. They also need to know without a shadow of a doubt that you're always working on their behalf and in their best interest. When they feel this connection with you, they'll be much more likely to remain a customer for life.
How to develop your empathy skills
So, ask yourself again ... are you that company? That leader? If not, it's time to start developing your empathy skills so you can be. Here are a few actions you can take to get started:
Pay attention to nonverbal cues
Listen with the intent to understand, not just reply
Seek out diverse perspectives
Practice mindfulness and meditation
Check your ego at the door
Don't make assumptions
Be patient and present in every moment
Allow yourself to feel emotions fully, both positive and negative
The ability to empathize is a crucial business strategy that all leaders should master to be successful. Empathy allows you to connect with your team members and customers on a deeper level, understand their needs and wants and create a more meaningful customer experience.
In a world where traditional marketing methods are beginning to fade away, empathy can be the key to differentiating your company from the rest.
The role of an empath in business
In its simplest form, an empath is a person with the ability to understand and feel the emotions of others. It goes beyond being able to put yourself in someone else's shoes; an empath experiences the world of others as if they were living it themselves.
If you're not an empath, reading the sentence above probably left a large question mark in your mind. How can anyone feel exactly what someone else is feeling at any given moment? What an enlightened question. Here's the science behind it.
Every human has what's called a mirror neuron system. This system is responsible for our ability to understand the emotions and intentions of others by simulating their feelings in our own brains. In other words, we can feel others' emotions because our brain is wired to do so.
Some people have stronger mirror neurons than others, which makes them more empathic. These individuals are typically more in tune with the emotions of those around them and can easily read nonverbal cues. They're also quick to build relationships and trust because people feel understood when they're around them.
It doesn't matter whether you're an empath or not; the most important thing is that you understand how empathy works and why it's such an important business tool. The first step to using empathy in business is to understand the different types of empathy. There are three main types:
Cognitive empathy: This type of empathy allows you to understand how someone else is feeling by putting yourself in their shoes and seeing the world from their perspective. It's the ability to see things from multiple angles and understand another person's point of view.
Emotional empathy: Emotional empathy is the ability to feel what another person is feeling. It's different from cognitive empathy because it doesn't require you to put yourself in someone else's shoes; you simply feel their emotions as if they were your own.
Physical empathy: Physical empathy is the ability to understand and respond to another person's physical sensations. This includes both pain and pleasure. For example, if someone is telling you about a difficult time they're going through, you might physically mirror their expressions or body language to show them that you understand what they're feeling.
Related: How Understanding the Power of Empathy Makes You a Better Leader
For business owners: Why an emotionless human being is difficult to trust
Yes, we're all humans, but we probably all know that one person who is stone-cold all the time. And not in a good way. If you're that person, do you truly believe your employees are going to enjoy working for you?
Being unapproachable and unwilling to listen causes low employee retention rates and low company morale. Everyone comes to work knowing they have to walk on eggshells because their boss isn't going to understand that an unexpected family emergency is the real reason why the assignment was a day late.
As the leader of a team with varying emotional needs, you must step up to the plate and develop your empathetic side. Empathy is a crucial quality for any leader who desires to build trust, rapport and understanding with their team.
Empathetic leaders are also able to see situations from multiple perspectives and make better decisions as a result. When leaders can empathize with their team, they create a safe and supportive environment where people feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas.
How can you become the empathetic leader your team needs?
Once you tap into this side of yourself, you'll quickly start seeing a shift in your team's dynamic. Here's how:
Try to put yourself in other people's shoes: This means trying to see things from their perspective, without judgment.
Pay attention to both verbal and nonverbal cues: What are they saying? How are they saying it? What is their body language telling you?
Be present in the moment: This means being fully focused on the other person and what they're saying or doing.
Practice active listening: This means not only hearing what the other person is saying but also trying to understand the meaning behind their words.
Remember, empathy is a skill that takes time and practice to develop. The more you do it, the better you'll become at it.
To scale your business with sustainable systems that succeed, your employees need to feel free to open up and share their thoughts and feelings. You hired each and every person on your team for a reason — that reason being that you see a creative and innovative spark in them that presents itself as an incredible asset to your business.
Why shut down their creative flow before they have the room to flourish? Your business' next big breakthrough could come from the mind of one of your talented team members. Imagine how much impact and income you could miss out on by silencing your team member with a billion-dollar idea they're too afraid to share.
Related: The Future of Leadership is Empathy—And Companies are Better for It
Why empathy is your secret weapon
Empathy is a critical business strategy because it allows you to:
Develop deeper relationships with your clients
Build trust and rapport
Create a safe space for sharing
Understand needs and how to best support them
Generate new ideas
What is a business without its strong employee-client relationships? If clients can't trust your brand, they're not going to purchase your products or services. That's simply a fact.
Being authentic and showing clients that there's an emotionally intelligent human behind your well-oiled machine helps you fully understand the needs of your target market and create products and services that meet those needs. When you have empathy, you're able to see both the big picture and the smaller details. Soon, you'll be making informed decisions that benefit everyone aligned with your brand.
Start the process to see the impactful results
Maybe you've run a successful operation by being that cold, calculating business person. But what if you're missing out on something phenomenal by not opening yourself up to the power of empathy? Sure, it might be a little out of your comfort zone at first, but that's how growth happens. By stepping outside of what's familiar and exploring new territory, elevation is inevitable.
Empathy is a learned skill that takes time and practice to master. But it's well worth the effort because it will make you an impactful leader, an effective communicator and an enlightened human being.
When you're able to see the world through the eyes of others, you gain a greater understanding of the human experience. And that is a powerful tool that can be used to make a positive impact in the world. The bottom line is that empathy is essential for both personal and professional success. If you want to be an awe-inspiring leader that invites loyalty, you must first master the art of empathy.
Maybe by stepping outside of themselves, empathetic leaders are often great communicators and relationship builders. Think about someone who really took time to help you grow. They were most likely an empath.
Empathy in the workplace has been a millennial-led trend for a few years, and if companies and leaders don't adapt, it's going to be increasingly difficult to find and retain talent. We hear over and over how millennials have ruined, well, everything. However, they're getting a lot of things right, especially when it comes to expecting better treatment from colleagues and higher ups.
Since millennials entered the workplace, they've been making some demands that have shaken things up and shown us they actually do not want that office pool table. Truthfully, all the pool tables and free beer in the world doesn't mean anything if millennials are working in a toxic environment.
This is why empathy in leadership has been a hot topic lately. The millennial generation is currently the largest in the workforce, which means they're driving the workforce. Leaders of all generations are beginning to see their roles in a different light, and as these attitudes change, they will have to adapt in order to be successful.
Here's how and why it benefits you to be an empathetic leader.
Empaths understand emotions outside their own.
Empathy is complicated, and many people don't understand exactly what it entails. It's more than being "nice," and it's much different from sympathy. An empath is someone who understands what another person is going through by looking at the situation from their perspective. By stepping outside themselves, empathetic leaders are often great communicators and relationship builders. Think about someone who really took time to help you grow. They were most likely an empath.
In a leadership environment specifically, empathy is understanding that your employees have their own complex working and communication styles, as well as a life separate from work. Most employees do not feel comfortable talking about stress in the workplace, which builds up even more stress for them. An empathetic leader creates an environment where employees feel safe communicating their stress. You don't need to know the details of their lives, just work with them on how to make their personal work experience less stressful through understanding how they work, their strengths, challenges they face and any uncertainties they have in their role. It's widely reported that employees are more productive when they feel supported by their employer—13 percent, in fact. As a leader, you set the tone and have an influence over your employee's happiness at work.
Empathic leadership uses a coaching mindset.
It's a coach's job to identify a player's talent and potential, and work with them to bring it all out to move the team forward. In this case, the player is your employee and the team is your company. Embrace their strengths first, and coach their weaknesses. Give them ownership over what they are best at and understand that everyone won't be good at everything. Like a good coach, utilize your team to fill in the weaknesses so your employee feels less stress to perform beyond their capabilities.
Asking questions is also an important part of the coaching process. Encouraging your employees to ask questions and look at the work as something they can fully explore will reward everyone. Yes, you will still need to provide answers, but giving people agency to use their curiosity and creativity will inspire new ideas you may have never thought of.
Coaching isn't about control, unlike the boss archetype. As the workforce evolves rapidly, bosses are seeing a bigger need for coaching, which cultivates a "true learning organization," according to Harvard Business Review. For their own workflow, they need to get comfortable with hands-off management and leaving the job to the experts. The boss' role is now to facilitate as needed to focus on their own priorities.
Empathy breeds inclusivity.
When you are a comprehensive and empathetic leader, the workspace opens up to new thoughts and perspectives. The "we" mentality of leadership invites new ideas and solutions, while the "me' mentality closes off innovation.
Empathetic leaders are also more likely to view diversity and inclusion as a key part of a business' success. In inclusion-focused workplaces, it is easier to acquire and retain talent, increase performance and innovation and boost employee engagement. Unfortunately, three-fourths of people in underrepresented groups say they do not benefit from their company's diversity and inclusion programs.
As a leader, it's up to you to build inclusivity into the fabric of your company. The first step is education. Seek out experts to inform and consult—the more you know about best practices, the better you can be an example to your employees. Identify experts and employees whose feedback you respect and work with them to form a diversity and inclusion committee. By having various perspectives, you will have more solutions and improvements for your company.
Empathy lessens reactivity.
For many, it's instinct to point fingers when something goes wrong. But instead of jumping to conclusions and scolding yourself or your others, get behind the why.
Being stern and assertive may get you fast results and establish dominance, but a reactive reaction causes unnecessary anxiety and stress, which is detrimental in your life.
The Anxiety and Depression Association of America released a study on work's impact on stress and anxiety. An average of 50 percent of people surveyed said workplace stress affects their performance, work quality and professional relationships. What's more alarming is that seven in 10 people say stress at work affects their personal relationships. Management accounts for a lot of that stress, with 50 percent of responders saying management has an effect on their mental health.
Anyone who has had a job knows what bad management looks like. You've most likely tensed up when an email came through from a never-satisfied boss.
An after-hours email can derail an employees' evening or weekend, and pointing fingers and scolding immediately puts employees on the defense.
An empathetic leader will check in on their employee and facilitate problem solving, as opposed to reacting. Did you provide everything the employee needs? A good manager recognizes an employee's success reflects leadership as well. Do you know what is going on in your employee's life outside of that project? Probably not - and you don't need to know - so give them a little grace.
When you allow room for mistakes and problem solving, it's easier for employees to feel comfortable exploring their skills, coming to you with challenges and being transparent with their work. What's easier? Approaching a boss that expects perfection each time, or one that is willing to listen and offer the tools to succeed?