“Empathy is the ability to understand, be aware of, and relate to others' thoughts, needs, emotions, and experiences. It is the ability to actively share emotions with others, and passively experience others’ emotions.”
— “Empathy and the emergence of task and relations leaders”;
Kellet, Humphrey & Sleeth
Practicing empathy and active listening in leadership
Empathetic leaders equipped with active listening create an atmosphere of understanding and being heard, accepting and valuing diverse identities, deepening communication, and collaboration. Their approach can model transparent communication while encouraging all voices in the team to be present.
Empathy and active listening empower individuals to embrace diversity and transform differences into opportunities for collective learning.
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Demonstrate genuine interest in others' perspectives, contexts and values.
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Strive to have a better understanding of the different emotions, assumptions and views.
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Articulate your feedback in a way that is concise, clear, and specific.
Be constructive and encouraging in your tone, the words you use, and the way you frame the feedback.
Emphasize the skills the person is already good at as well as the areas for further focus and growth.
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Foster collective learning and creative problem-solving in an inclusive environment where everyone’s uniqueness is recognized and explored by diving into personal vision and how it is shaped.
Blitz Quiz
Instructions
To step into the role of an empathetic leader, let’s take the following interactive blitz quiz. Click on the option you think you as an empathetic leader would choose. Each choice includes an explanation of the impact of that action or feedback.
While the most preferred answers will score higher, and less empathetic choices will score 0 points, you can try the quiz as many times as you like to explore different approaches.
Have fun!