Empathetic Leadership

Tips on how to support you and your team members

Empathetic leadership means having the ability to understand the needs of others and being aware of
their feelings and thoughts and at its core is about trust and respect. Practicing empathy is important to
establishing strong and mutual connections and understanding and being present.

What is Empathy: Empathy at work:

The ability to perceive and relate to the thoughts,
Being skilled in empathetic leadership is
emotions, or experience of others. understanding a situation from another
person’s perspective and reacting with
compassion.

Nurturing
Love Empathy at work means that your people
Caring are able to establish true, empathetic
EMPATHY connections with one another. It is the social
Relating Understanding
and emotional glue of good relationships.

The impact of being an empathetic

Communication leader provides greater awareness of the
needs of team members, creates open lines
of communication, better problem solve
and validate whatever they might going
through.

Demonstrating Empathy:
Develop self-empathy Reflect Be Curious Be Kind

• Practice forgiveness for
yourself. Accept you are not
perfect and be gentle with
yourself.
• Employ a growth mindset.
Embrace rather than avoid
challenges, and don’t give up
on yourself.
• Be mindful. Strive to always
be in the moment and to be
aware of what is happening
right now, without judgment
and labeling.
• Reflect to improve
understanding of the context
you work in, transform
perspectives, and deepen
your understanding.
• Take time and ask yourself,
“What causes me to react the
way I do in certain
situations?”
• Provide space for yourself
and ask yourself “How am I
feeling?” and “How do I want
to feel?”
• Spend time with team
members you may not know
as well. Ask them about
themselves and how they are.
• Talk to team members about
the important things in their
lives.
• Recognize similarities you
share with others and be
interested, without judgment,
in the differences.
• Lead with kindness. It
empowers people to lead
with positivity, purpose, and
an open-mindedness that
embraces new ideas.
• Consider others needs.
Make the needs and
considerations of others a
top priority.
• Find common
ground. Come together
through kindness; use kind
words and actions.

4 ways to show empathy:

Listen Empathically
• Give your full attention and
listen generously and
carefully to what someone is
trying to tell you.
• Model silence to encourage
more thought leadership.
• Ask follow-up questions to
show you are listening and to
ensure understanding.
• Respect team members
who may not want to share
their perspectives. That is
okay.
Consider Other Perspectives
• Examine your own attitude
and keep an open mind;
avoid making assumptions
about others.
• Agreement is not required;
by respecting someone else’s
perspective you build trust
and respect.
• Continue to practice
patience in understanding of
all situations to minimize
different degrees of stress.
Watch for Crisis Fatigue
• Crisis fatigue is real.
Separating work and home
coupled with external
stressors is becoming even
more challenging.
• Create a culture of caring
by offering ways to connect
and prioritize team member
wellbeing.
• Revisit the Crisis Fatigue
Guide.
Take Action
• Demonstrate empathy.
There is no one "right way" to
show it.
• Model individualization
based on unique situation.
• Take action by providing
space for team members to
ground themselves.
• Provide a safe space for
them to share and help them
prioritize their workload to
best manage stress.
• Review our Grounding
Exercise.