Empathy may not immediately spring to mind. But a study has revealed that a leader’s effectiveness is linked to the level of empathy they show to colleagues, clients and communities.

Called Empathy in the Workplace, the study by the Center for Creative Leadership says ineffective managers make up half of today’s management pool and that they are expensive – costing organisations millions of pounds each year. That’s why it’s important to develop more effective managers and leaders.

One of the all-important skills possessed by an effective leader, according to the study of 6,731 managers from 38 countries, is empathy. This is the ability to experience and relate to the thoughts, emotions and experiences of others.

The good news is that empathy can be learned. “If given time, training and support, leaders can develop and enhance their empathy skills through coaching, training or developmental opportunities and initiatives,” says the study.

It says organisations can encourage empathy in leaders by talking about empathy and letting leaders know it’s important; teaching leaders to listen; encouraging leaders to put themselves in others’ shoes; and cultivating compassionate and supporting leaders who care about others’ feelings and overall wellbeing.

All this is easier said than done. However we can help you – see What We Do.

The report sums up perfectly: “Empathic leaders are assets to organisations, in part, because they are able to effectively build and maintain relationships.”

As you might expect, General Electric, Procter & Gamble, Intel Corporation, Siemens, Banco Santander and the Coca-Cola Company were all big achievers in the survey.

Perhaps more interesting is what makes these top for leadership and what techniques they use to secure their place at the top of the chart.

• Flatter organisational structures: the report explains that leadership, innovation and ideas coming from all levels of an organisation is a winning formula. We recognise this. One of our many skills is in Organisational Design – developing the right organisational structure to support your business strategy.

• Diversity: the report says “the Top 20 are responding to the challenges of competing successfully in a global economy by ensuring that their workforce and leadership reflect the diversity of their markets.” At WDI Consulting, we understand, and help our clients understand, different cultures and the cross boundary working that leads to greater collaboration, communication and ultimately success.

• Adapting the approach: the report says: “it should be no surprise that all of these companies are working to help managers adapt their approach to leadership more quickly and completely than other businesses.” We recognise that flexibility is critical to any business and we offer Executive Coaching to help leaders adapt and respond to new challenges, new markets and new ambitions. We also deliver Circuit Training workshops. These are bespoke bite-size development sessions almost akin to a boot-camp experience suitable for clients looking for a shorter, more targeted development solution.

The authors, Joanna Barsh, Josephine Mogelof and Caroline Webb, spent six years learning from more than 140 leaders who find the best in themselves and inspire, engage and mobilise others. These included the CEOs of Macys, Clairol, Avon, United Media and Novo Nordisk US.

This journey led them to identify five capabilities, which they call ‘centred leadership’. They claim that leaders who have mastered even one of the five skills are twice as likely as those who have mastered none to feel they can lead through change. So, what are those five capabilities,…

• Finding meaning in work: these leaders “convey energy and enthusiasm because the goal is important to them personally, because they are actively enjoying its pursuit, and because their work plays to their strengths”. The report says this requires the leaders to become great storytellers – touching hearts as well as minds and our work in the area of developing ‘strategic narratives’ supports this.

• Positive framing: this is converting emotions such as fear or stress into opportunity. The report acknowledges that some people frame the world optimistically, others pessimistically, but it says we can all become aware of what triggers our fears and learn to work through them to reframe what is happening more constructively. “Once we have mastered reframing, we can help others learn this skill,” it says. Many of our team are Neuro Linguistic Programming practioners, so we have the skills and expertise to help our clients learn ‘positive framing’ effectively.

• Leveraging connections and community: “simple hierarchical cascades – from the CEO down until the chain breaks – are becoming less and less effective for leaders,” says the report. It also discusses how leaders must become adept at building relationships with multiple stakeholders across organisational and community boundaries. The leaders must develop the skills to influence without formal authority and seek insights in to the motives and drivers of their stakeholders to engage with them in a truly collaborative way. In response to this, we have developed a programme aimed at helping internal business partners understand their stakeholders at a much deeper level using a range of psychological techniques. The result – they become effective at leveraging their connections and community.

• Acting in the face of risk: the report says encouraging others to take risks is difficult, uncomfortable and will involve the leader stepping away from their usual mindset and admitting they don’t have all the answers – but that ultimately it can unleash tremendous potential. The report explains the process Doug Stern, CEO of United Media, uses to help his people evaluate risks and confront the unknown. He asks the team to imagine and describe every bad scenario. Then they devise a detailed plan, thereby rehearsing the best response to each potential issue. We use Executive Coaching to help our clients mentally rehearse and prepare for success whilst analysing and planning for the potential risks they face.

• Sustaining the energy that is the life force of change: the report says that the initial energy, enthusiasm and commitment required to bring about change can often peter out. Therefore leaders need to “systemically restore their own energy (physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual), as well as create the conditions and serve as role models for others to do the same.” Our experts in sports and organisational psychology and psychotherapy know a lot about managing our internal resources to reduce stress and maximise resilience.

This report resonated with us because so much of our Executive Coaching is about changing things from the inside out – focusing on vulnerability, connectivity, engagement, team dynamics and managing energy. We were particularly interested in ‘acting in the face of risk’ as it feeds into the Harvard Business Review article entitled Why should anyone be led by you? This says: “One of the qualities that makes a good leader is that they selectively show their weakness, which reveals their approachability and humanity.”

The article also struck a chord with us because it brought to mind an address on weakness and vulnerability by Brené Brown, Research Professor at the University of Houston, on TED Talks:

Brené has built a career on studying human connection, or our ability to empathise and belong. Brené found: “The people who have a strong sense of worthiness, a strong sense of belonging, fully embrace their vulnerability.”

We’d love to get your views on this: join in the debate and let’s exchange ideas.
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The Work Foundation has recently published a report demonstrating the business case for a proactive and integrative approach to wellbeing in the workplace which you may find interesting.  For more about the report, see The Work Foundation.

The article says: “A coach or mentor can provide the personal and development challenge required to help leaders hold themselves to account and be openly accountable to their organisation.” It continues: “In our experience, coaching and mentoring accelerates effectiveness and delivers real business gains for both the public and private sectors.” Make sure you take a look at the article!

Entitled What Matters More Than Your Talents, he explains his dream to start an online bookstore with millions of titles, something which could not exist in the real world. He speaks about using the gifts we are given, following our passions and convictions, and being original and relentless. He also has some interesting truths about human nature – and urges us all to use our gift of cleverness but also to make a choice about kindness.

The report demonstrates that a highly people-centred approach results in performance that surpasses expectations – that’s what we’ve been saying for years! For more about the report, see The Work Foundation.