“76% of people who experienced empathy from their leaders reported they were engaged compared with only 32% who experienced less empathy”
A great read by Tracy Brower, in Forbes: Empathy Is The Most Important Leadership Skill According To Research
Interestingly, we’re seeing the same phenomenon with empathy linked to strategy.
Strategy with empathy, to us, means having conversations with all levels of staff from front-line, to backend and supporting management to understand and consider their experiences.
Its also having empathy with clients and partners, by investing the time to have real conversations and listen.
The main points from the article…
Research shows that leading with empathy leads to positive outcomes includiing:
- Better innovation from employees
- Higher employee engagement
- Increased staff retention
- More inclusive workspaces
- More balanced work-life
This perfectly articulates why Foundstone uses a human-centred design and open strategy approach to apply empathy in strategy.
Through this, we have not only seen better team alignment, but also more confident and well-equipped leaders.
“Leaders don’t have to be experts in mental health in order to demonstrate they care and are paying attention. It’s enough to check in, ask questions and take cues from the employee about how much they want to share.”
“Empathy (is) an important part of our human condition—at work and in our personal lives.”
Without empathy, it’s impossible to begin understanding customers, partners, staff, and other leaders – to make the best strategy choices.
What are you seeing in this space?