Think Empathy by Business Leaders Doesn’t Pay? Think Again

Genuine empathy on the part of an organization’s leadership is a game changer for employees.  When leaders seek to truly hear what their direct reports and other employees want to express, things change. The organization, along with individual employee performance, suffers when staff members feel their bosses continually miss what they are trying to communicate. Why? Think about your own experience. When have you tried to express an idea, joy, or frustration, and had a friend, partner, spouse or boss say something that indicates they really missed what you shared? The experience of being “missed” leaves most of us feeling there is no point sharing something with the people in our lives who don’t listen well. Even worse is when someone runs right past us when we are trying to express something. 

Disengaged Employees Stop Contributing

In work settings, when leaders don’t seek to hear their employee’s great ideas, shut down, or do not invite comments unsupportive of their agendas, employees end up feeling so much resentment, frustration and anger that they stop contributing to the organization’s performance. Repeatedly, they feel that they won’t be heard by their boss and tend to “check out” mentally and emotionally. Non-engaged employees result in a negative direct hit to the bottom-line results of the company.

Collaboration and teamwork are essential elements of work today. Leaders who possess the ability to hear their people empathically support a culture of collaboration and teamwork, and the converse is true. Teamwork suffers dramatically with less than empathetic leaders.

Of course, listening well as a leader does not mean your people will always get what they want or have their way.  Leaders have the authority to make decisions for the betterment of their organization, and they need to exercise that authority.  But, leaders who dismiss the viewpoints, opinions and ideas of their people in the midst of making decisions affecting their people, often end up with disengaged employees and higher than necessary turnover rates.

Need help learning how to be an empathetic leader?

At Conover Consulting we have years of experience developing empathy in leaders. From empathetic leadership to culture checks, contact Laura Conover at laura@conoverconsulting.com to help you be a better leader at a better company.