Empathetic Leadership: The Key to Building Trust and High-Performing Teams
- What is Empathic Leadership?
- Empathy vs. Sympathy in Leadership
- The Neuroscience Behind Empathy
- The Business Case for Empathetic Leadership
- Developing Empathy as a Leadership Skill
- Active Listening and Open Communication
- Emotional Intelligence and Self-Awareness
- Building Trust
- Empathy in the Workplace: Practical Applications
- The Role of Empathy in Building Healthy, Thriving Cultures
Many of us have heard empathy defined as having the ability to “walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.” But despite having numerous opportunities to connect and understand each other’s unique perspectives, we may fail to put ourselves in someone else’s place when it matters most. That’s particularly true in the workplace. In fact, research shows that while nearly 80% of senior leaders recognize the importance of empathy, less than half of their organizations are actively practicing it. What’s more, 55% of leaders overestimate how empathetic they are at work, illustrating a disparity between how leaders and team members experience empathy in the workplace.
That hierarchal empathy gap may seem like nothing more than an interesting footnote, but it should be of major concern to organizations and leaders—especially because it’s not just frontline workers who believe empathy is lacking at work. In Businessolver’s 2024 State of Workplace Empathy Report, 63% of employees, 59% of HR professionals, and 56% of CEOs said their organization’s culture is “toxic” and that their workplace needs an empathy overhaul. With the rise of remote work, diverse teams, and unprecedented levels of stress, leaders who exhibit empathy not only enhance personal connections with their teams but also drive organizational success. Empathy in leadership fosters trust, communication, and an inclusive environment where employees feel valued and heard. As a result, teams become more engaged, productive, and cohesive. Conversely, without empathy in leadership, organizations run the risk of decreased productivity, engagement, and innovation, while increasing the likelihood of employee burnout and turnover.
“Empathy enlarges your own thinking. When your spouse or your co-worker or your friend really opens up to you and becomes transparent to you, he injects his views into yours. His truths now belong to you as well.”
With that in mind, how can organizations foster genuine empathetic leadership, rather than mere lip service? What exactly does empathy in the workplace look like in practice? And how can you make a business case for building empathetic leaders to help your teams truly thrive? We’ll explore the power of empathy at work and its critical role in trust-building, engagement, and success for highly effective organizations.
What is Empathetic Leadership?
While practicing empathy is a beneficial step in virtually any relationship, it’s become more important in workplace dynamics in recent years—especially between leaders and their teams. Empathetic leadership can be seen in a leader’s ability to understand and share the emotions, thoughts, and perspectives of others—particularly team members. Empathetic leaders tune into the feelings and challenges that others face and incorporate this understanding into how they communicate and strategize with their team. When we lead with compassion and strive to view situations from the other person’s perspective, we can make them feel seen, heard, and understood.
Empathy vs. Sympathy in Leadership
“Empathy is not sympathy. Sympathy is a form of agreement. Empathy is not agreeing with someone; it is fully, deeply understanding that person, emotionally as well as intellectually.”
Sympathy and empathy are often used interchangeably, but these concepts have some key differences. Sympathy often involves feeling sorry for someone’s struggles or expressing pity for their situation. Empathy goes beyond that, allowing you to imagine what it might be like to find yourself in a similar circumstance. Unlike sympathy, empathy requires active engagement and purposeful action. Empathy requires us to wholeheartedly believe in the validity of someone else’s experience or perspective just as we would our own, even if we haven’t directly encountered those same experiences or perspectives ourselves.
Empathetic leaders actively listen, show genuine understanding and curiosity, respond with actions that help others feel heard, and address any underlying issues within their power. This action-based distinction is crucial, as the mere expression of words will go only so far. Think of it this way: Sympathy can be expressed in a condolence card, but empathy involves sitting with someone who’s grieving, listening to their story, and feeling their pain or experiences as just as deeply as you would your own. This doesn’t mean that sympathy is never warranted—or that practicing empathy for everyone without boundaries is the appropriate choice—but it does show the power of empathy in building trust, sharing unique perspectives, and deepening our understanding of others.
The Neuroscience Behind Empathy
Empathy isn’t just a soft skill—it’s deeply rooted in neuroscience. The ability to empathize isn’t limited to the human experience; it’s also been observed in primates, canines, and rodents, according to The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley. Scientists speculate that mirror neurons—brain cells that light up both when we engage in a certain behavior ourselves and then observe someone else engaging in that same behavior—and neural pathways play a key role in empathy. It’s also likely that our ability to empathize came out of evolutionary needs. When our ancestors became attuned to the needs of their children and learned how to better cooperate with others around them, that overarching sense of care and understanding allowed the entire group to develop resilience and ultimately survive. And while it’s been suggested that genetics may factor into our natural empathetic capabilities, empathy is also a skill that we can develop over time with regular practice.
Empathy may seemingly be accompanied by lower stakes in the modern world, but highly effective leaders treat empathy as a critical component of their organization’s survival. Research has shown that empathy builds trust and deeper connections within teams, and that leaders who practice empathy are more likely to create stronger bonds with their employees. When leaders demonstrate empathy, the neural pathways linked to social bonding and emotional regulation become activated. This helps leaders connect with their teams while enhancing the ability to make decisions and boost team morale. Empathy also allows leaders to adapt to unpredictable situations and guide others through change by gaining a better understanding of their team’s perspectives, making them more effective, agile, and resilient in the face of adversity and other challenges.
Guide your team through new developments with Change: How to Turn Uncertainty Into Opportunity™.
The Business Case for Empathetic Leadership
Empathetic leadership isn’t merely a buzzword; it has measurable impacts on business outcomes. Leaders who exhibit empathy help create environments where open communication, trust, and collaboration flourish. This, in turn, directly improves an organization’s overall performance and individual productivity. A recent Catalyst study revealed that empathetic leaders have more engaged teams and more profitable organizations. In fact, 61% of employees surveyed said they felt innovative and proactive due to the empathetic leaders in their lives, compared to only 13% without empathetic leadership who felt the same way. Other research suggests that 83 to 88% of workers agree that mutual empathy between employees and leaders leads to increased efficiency, creativity, job satisfaction, collaboration, innovation, and company revenue. When employees are more comfortable contributing ideas and engaging in creative problem-solving—thanks in large part to feeling psychologically safe, heard, understood, and cared for—performance and innovation can thrive.
Furthermore, empathy can play a part in reducing employee burnout. Recent research reveals that while nearly 60% of employees and business leaders admit their organizations have taken some steps to prevent burnout, almost 30% of workers said they wish their employers would act with more empathy. Another report found that workers—especially BIPOC employees—with empathetic senior leaders had a lower likelihood of reporting high levels of workplace burnout than those who were managed by less empathetic senior leaders.
There’s a reason why 90% of U.S. workers believe that empathetic leadership leads to higher job satisfaction. By recognizing and addressing employees’ unique needs and challenges, empathetic leaders can prevent disengagement, turnover, and stress-related declines in productivity. This proactive approach leads to a healthier work environment, where team members are motivated to work harder and remain with the organization. In fact, nearly 80% of workers believe that empathetic leadership decreases employee turnover. This inclusive and nurturing mindset ultimately contributes to an innovative culture; when employees feel cared for and empowered to bring their best ideas forward, they’ll boost both individual and organizational success.
Learn more about how employee engagement drives productivity.
Developing Empathy as a Leadership Skill
Even though empathy in the workplace is a relatively modern concept, that doesn’t mean it’s caught on everywhere. In fact, employee perceptions of empathy in the workplace hit an all-time low last year, with only 66% of workers saying they worked in empathetic workplaces in 2023. What’s more, there’s a sizeable gap between how CEOs view their own empathy levels and how employees perceive the C-suite’s ability to empathize at work.
Empathy may come naturally to some leaders, but it’s still a skill that can and should be developed. By focusing on improving empathy, leaders can strengthen their capacity to lead effectively, foster deeper connections with their teams, and create a more inclusive and high-performing work environment. With that in mind, how can effective leaders develop a greater sense of empathy to help their teams thrive?
The Most Trusted Leadership Company
Learn how your organization can use our people, content, and technology to create collective action and meaningful change.
Active Listening and Open Communication
“Listening with empathy is one of the most underrated communication and leadership skills.”
There’s good reason why Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood® is one of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People®. Empathy begins with active listening and is all about showing respect. Leaders who listen attentively to their team members’ concerns and experiences are better able to proactively address those concerns. Active listening involves more than just hearing words; it requires understanding the emotions and context behind what is being said. Active listening requires the listener to be fully present in the conversation. Rather than being focused on formulating a response, the primary objective is to receive the information, truly take in what’s being said, and affirm your understanding. While it’s not always easy to do this without our own perspectives or biases creeping in, we want to try to view these expressions from the speaker’s perspective. Leaders who ask open-ended questions from a place of genuine curiosity—for both clarification of what’s been said and to initiate even deeper understanding moving forward—encourage team members to share their perspectives fully, creating an environment of trust and mutual respect.
Of course, effective communication is a two-way street. Leaders who not only listen but also respond with thoughtful feedback and actionable steps demonstrate that they are invested in the well-being of their teams. This type of communication fosters transparency, allows employees to feel supported, and helps mitigate misunderstandings that can arise in the workplace. Empathetic leaders create space for honest and respectful dialogue, ensuring that team members feel heard and understood. This subsequently strengthens team dynamics and increases overall performance. Explore more about trusted communication practices that can enhance your leadership approach.
Emotional Intelligence and Self-Awareness
Emotional intelligence (EQ) is at the core of empathetic leadership—and it’s also been rated as the top leadership skill for 2024. Leaders with high emotional intelligence are more self-aware, recognizing how their emotions impact their behavior and decision-making. This self-awareness allows them to better manage their emotional responses, particularly in stressful situations. Leaders who cultivate emotional intelligence are more capable of navigating the complexities of human interactions and fostering positive relationships within their teams.
Moreover, self-aware leaders are better positioned to understand the emotions of others. They can identify when a team member is struggling or feeling disconnected, allowing them to take proactive steps to offer support. Developing higher emotional intelligence leads to better conflict resolution, stronger team cohesion, and improved overall morale. By enhancing their EQ, leaders can build the foundation for a more compassionate and effective leadership style. Explore emotional intelligence in leadership and how it can benefit your team.
Cultivating emotional intelligence is a worthwhile endeavor on an individual basis, too. Research suggests that 75% of careers become derailed for reasons relating to emotional intelligence, including interpersonal conflict, lack of trust-building, and inability to lead through change. Other studies have found that, in star performers, 67% of the competencies that directly led to success were actually emotional ones—showing that “soft skills” may have a much bigger impact than many organizations realize.
Building Trust
A recent U.S. consulting study found that 52% of employees believe their company’s efforts to be more empathetic are dishonest, suggesting a lack of trust and authenticity between leaders and their reports. But genuinely empathetic leaders are in a much stronger position to build trust with their teams. Trust is a function of two components: character and competence. Empathy often acts as the gateway to the character piece of the equation, allowing leaders to demonstrate both their integrity and their intent in regular interactions. Practicing empathy can help us to talk truthfully, demonstrate respect, create transparency, and right wrongs—all crucial behaviors for building trust. And, like empathy, trust can play an integral role in employee productivity, retention, and satisfaction, as well as organizational growth. In fact, employees who trust their leaders are 61% more likely to stay at their organizations, while workers in high-trust groups experience 90% more joy than employees on low-trust teams. And since organizations that have the highest levels of trust also have revenue growth 3.6 times that of organizations with low trust, learning how to Lead at the Speed of Trust can make a massive difference for many teams.
“Trust is the hidden variable that makes or breaks a high-speed network of creativity, collaboration, innovation, and execution.”
The Fundamental Beliefs of Trust and Inspire Leaders™ stand in contrast to the command-and-control style of leadership that has pervaded our culture for centuries. Effective leaders who aim to trust and inspire their teams believe:
- People have greatness inside of them.
- Enduring influence is created from the inside out.
- There’s enough for everyone.
- People are whole people.
- Leadership is stewardship.
These core beliefs can help effective leaders model authentic behaviors, encourage others to be themselves fully, and empower team members to make meaningful contributions in the workplace. To live those values completely, it all needs to start with having empathy for others.
Empathy in the Workplace: Practical Applications
Empathy in leadership has numerous practical applications within the workplace. From conflict resolution to fostering diversity and inclusion, empathetic leaders can transform how teams operate and engage with one another.
Empathy in Conflict Resolution
Workplace conflict is inevitable, but empathetic leaders can navigate conflicts by understanding the emotions and perspectives of all parties involved. By approaching conflicts with empathy, leaders can mediate effectively, ensuring that resolutions are fair and constructive. Empathetic conflict resolution not only preserves team morale but also strengthens relationships within the organization.
Conflict resolution is difficult, even for experienced leaders. But trying to side-step these conflicts can erode trust, strain team relationships, and inhibit growth. Rather, effective leaders need to know how to effectively address these concerns by leveraging courage and consideration. By considering each person’s unique perspectives, knowing how to manage emotional tension, and centering clarity and collaboration as the foundation for conflict resolution, leaders can effectively address uncomfortable issues in a way that moves teams and individuals forward.
A Word on the Power of Productive Empathy
Practicing empathy can be a powerful way to connect with team members. That said, effective empathy does not mean unlimited empathy. When we fail to enforce healthy boundaries pertaining to our empathy, we can over-extend ourselves to the detriment of our mental health. Additionally, leaders must take care to avoid practicing empathy to the point of enabling unacceptable behaviors. Ensuring employees feel heard and understood can help teams thrive, while using empathy to excuse ongoing performance issues or negative attitudes is actively harmful to team members and the organization.
Organizations can take care to avoid the misuse of empathy by ensuring that accountability, productivity, and other self-management skills are being prioritized in their learning and development. Additionally, leaders who clearly communicate their team’s most important goals and follow a goal tracking system like The 4 Disciplines of Executionâ can help set employees up for success while leaving room for empathy-driven conversations. Finally, ensuring leaders feel comfortable having difficult conversations to address conflict, relieve tension, or identify performance issues can greatly reduce an overextension of empathy.
Take Our Course on Navigating Difficult Conversations: Turn Tension Into Progress
Empathy in Leading Diverse, Inclusive Teams
In today’s globalized work environment, diversity within teams is more prevalent than ever. Whether a team is in-office, fully remote, or following a hybrid model, empathy allows leaders to bridge the cultural, generational, and experiential gaps that often arise in diverse teams. Leaders who practice empathetic leadership are better equipped to understand the unique challenges faced by each team member and foster an environment of inclusivity and mutual respect. Practicing empathy also enables us to challenge our emotional biases, allowing us to question what we think we know and open our minds to other possibilities—leading to greater innovation, creativity, and collaboration.
Download our guide on Intentional Inclusivity: 3 Ways to Create Professional Opportunity for All
When leaders prioritize inclusion and welcome diverse perspectives in their daily interactions, this can help shape a culture where everyone feels seen, valued, and understood. Those good feelings produce major dividends for organizations: HBR found that organizations with inclusive teams are 17% more likely to report they’re high performing, 20% more likely to say they make high-quality decisions, and 28% more likely to report they’re behaving collaboratively. Both organizations and teams win when inclusion is made a priority, as a sense of belonging and feeling valued can impact everything from engagement and productivity to burnout and turnover.
Learn how Inclusive Leadership: Practical Ways to Cultivate Inclusion & Build a Better Team™ can help your people thrive at work.
Empathy in Employee Retention
Leaders know that it costs more to hire than to retain, but as hinted above, the practice of empathy is an often-overlooked component of employee retention. EY’s recent report shows that 78% of employees believe that empathetic leadership leads to reduced employee turnover. On the flip side, approximately half of employees surveyed said they’d left a previous job because they didn’t feel they belonged. Other recent data supports this finding, as feeling unvalued by their organizations or managers and feeling no sense of belonging at work were the top reasons workers left during the “Great Resignation.” This was especially true among non-White or multiracial employees, further illustrating empathy’s role in both retaining team members and maintaining an inclusive, diverse culture.
The bottom line? When employees feel like they belong and they’re valued, they’re more likely to stick around. Considering that 4.5 million employees voluntarily left their jobs during the Great Resignation and the costs of onboarding alone among middle managers and skilled tech workers can represent 50% of the position’s annual income, learning that empathy is the most powerful tool at a leader’s disposal can be game-changing for many organizations.
The Role of Empathy in Building Healthy, Thriving Cultures
Empathy is integral to creating a truly inclusive culture within an organization. Empathetic leaders can identify unconscious biases, create safe spaces for open dialogue, and ensure that all employees—regardless of background or experiences—feel valued and heard.
Creating Psychological Safety
Psychological safety is a key component of any inclusive culture. Leaders who model empathetic behaviors help create an environment where team members feel comfortable expressing their ideas and concerns without fear of judgment or repercussions. This sense of safety encourages innovation, creativity, and risk-taking—all of which are vital to organizational success.
Psychological safety isn’t something that happens overnight or by accident, nor is it something that occurs in a vacuum. While individuals can experience a willingness or even a duty to speak up in difficult situations, it takes a concerted group effort to cultivate true psychological safety in the workplace. Effective leaders set the stage for psychological safety, making sure they and their reports share a belief that it’s okay to express concerns, share new ideas, and make mistakes. A psychologically safe culture encourages more diverse perspectives, facilitates a growth-based mindset, and leads to better decision-making—all of which benefit teams and organizations.
Listen to Be a Better Leader: Build a Culture of Resilience and Psychological Safety
Recognizing the Whole Person
“Well-being significantly impacts executive presence. Emotional regulation, resilience, empathy, and communication are much more difficult if you’re not whole physically, emotionally, and spiritually.”
The Industrial Revolution was fraught with leaders who saw workers only as commodities. But today’s workforce wants to be valued for who they are as people—not just for what they can do for the company. The COVID-19 pandemic brought many outdated workplace conditions to light, and as a result, employees are much more willing to go where they feel valued and cared for both at and outside of work.
In addition to welcoming and encouraging diverse perspectives of every team member, empathetic cultures can also parlay this same approach when developing or expanding workplace benefits and policies. According to the most recent State of Workplace Empathy Report, the top 15 empathetic benefits offered by employers include flexible work hours, employee assistance programs (EAPs), wellness days, paid time off, paid maternity and paternity leave, extended mental health benefits, employer contributions to retirement or financial plans, core healthcare benefits, family benefits, remote or flexible work location options, and annual compensation increases not based on performance or cost of living. Most notably, the gaps between the demonstration of empathy associated with these benefits and the percentage of employees who actually experience those benefits are wide—representing 30- to 70-point disparities. In other words, organizations can and do express empathy—or a perceived lack of it—through the way they help care for their employees’ health and well-being.
Recognizing the whole person doesn’t rely solely on the benefits an organization can offer, however. Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw®, known as The Principle of Renewal in The 7 Habits, showcases the necessity for leaders and team members to preserve and enhance the mind, body, heart, and spirit on a regular basis. Rather than burn the candle at both ends until we burn out, this habit frames renewal as a non-negotiable, rather than a nice-to-have. As an essential component of growth and improvement, it’s what allows us to be effective in all other areas of our lives—and it therefore needs to be prioritized. When leaders model this habit themselves and encourage their team members to engage in renewing activities, they can show their organization values the whole person and not merely the ability to do a job.
Developing Inclusive and Equitable Teams
Empathetic leadership isn’t just about listening to someone’s story; it also involves creating true inclusion and equity in the workplace. Empathy is often seen as the first step in cultivating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, as being able to acknowledge and understand others’ unique experiences is paramount when removing systemic barriers, improving accessibility, and creating equitable solutions. Whether it’s establishing an employee resource group (ERG), advocating for accessible and inclusive design, or tackling traditional recruitment and career development policies in favor of inclusive hiring and advancement, leaders have the power to set the tone, empower their teams, and lend their support to diverse initiatives that put the well-being and success of all employees at the forefront.
Learn more about fostering inclusivity through leadership.
Practice Empathy and Unleash Performance
Empathy isn’t a quick cure-all for company-wide culture issues or bad management. But it’s certainly a great place to start. Although most of us possess a natural capacity for empathy, effectively utilizing our empathy in leadership takes practice—but it’s well worth the effort. Download one of our guides on how to develop your leaders to gain valuable insights into how empathy can transform your leadership approach and drive success across your organization.