The school theme RISE as leaders of tomorrow, demonstrating Respect, Empathy, Skill Acquisition and Empathy will continue to guide us, as we move into the academic year 2021.

 

This month the focus will be on the letter E, which stands for "Empathy".

 

Andy Johnson, a leadership, team, and organizational coach with Price Associates, quoted Roman Krznaric’s definition of Empathy.

 

“The art of stepping imaginatively into the shoes of another person, understanding their feelings and perspectives, and using that understanding to guide your actions.” It’s different from sympathy, which is feeling sorry for or taking pity on someone else. While remaining superior, sympathy observes the other person from the outside. Empathy perceives the other person as an equal from within.

 

6 ways that Empathy can make you into a Good Leader

1. Empathy creates bonds.

You'll be able to interact with them and understand their interests and viewpoints better. Consider the power of your teams, your company, and your leadership when empathy strengthens the relationships between them.

 

2. Empathy gives insight.

It’s important to remember that the story we tell in our minds is different from the story playing in the minds of others. It is only through listening intently to others that you can begin to understand these differences. When you listen you learn, and when you learn you gain insight. There is a story behind every person, a reason why they are the way they are. Empathy allows you to think before you judge and make assumptions.

 

3. Empathy teaches presence.

Empathy means listening attentively, putting your complete focus on the person in front of you without becoming distracted. As a leader you are present to listen, understand, assist, and support, not to advise or fix or reply but simply to be. Being present means allowing others to have their moment, and it teaches us as leaders to be patient. It means putting others ahead of yourself—which in today’s competitive workplace can be challenging.

 

4. Empathy guides understanding

It’s not always easy to understand why someone feels or thinks the way they do. People often react in surprising ways, and it may leave you clueless about how to respond. But with empathy in your leadership toolkit, you don’t have to worry about how to respond, because the goal is not to respond but to listen, not to reply but to understand. Empathy allows you to understand others without passing judgment or making assumptions.

 

5. Empathy sharpens people skills.

Demonstrating empathy is hard; it takes time and effort to show awareness and understanding. When it comes to building teams and earning trust, you have to take an interest in people, to show you care. You have to show curiosity by asking questions about their challenges, their families, and their aspirations. When you do, you build empathy—and you sharpen your people skills.

 

6. Empathy cultivates a better communicator.

When you’re acting in empathy, you listen in a way that makes other people want to speak to you and communicate in a way that makes people feel safe to talk to you. To effectively communicate means realizing and acknowledging the differences in the choices we make and in the way we perceive the world, and then using this understanding to guide your communications with others.

 

What’s empathy have to do with leadership?

The answer is Everything. Because leadership is about having the ability to relate and connect and listen and bond with people to inspire and empower their lives. 

 

Here are some strategies to help you demonstrate understanding, recognition and empathy:

1. Be Authentic

Empathy can’t be forced. If you’re disinterested in your team and their feelings, then it will be very apparent to them. The only way you can truly win their trust is to be authentic. 

Make efforts to form meaningful relationships with your people based on trust and transparency. You don’t always have to go with their suggestions, but you must demonstrate you understand where they’re coming from and provide relevant reasons why you will/won’t be actioning their feedback.

Never hide your emotions. If you’re happy, show it. If you’re angry, show it. You get the picture! These are all human traits that make you relatable and approachable.  

 

2. Recognise different perspectives

If you want to understand the sentiment of your team, then try to recognise where people are coming from. You may not agree (or even like) what they’re saying – but you must accept that other perspectives should be taken seriously.

Many leaders assume their ideas are shared by everyone and are reflected throughout. This is simply not the case. Failing to listen to your peers and others will usually lead to poor decisions and disengaged stakeholders at all levels.

 

3. Be self-aware & compassionate

It’s hard to relate to your people and understand their views. You will rarely be able to fully understand their experiences and journeys – so you must try to connect with the emotion they are displaying.

Find out how they’re feeling and then compare it to when you felt similar. For example, “How did I feel when my superior ignored me?” “Would I like performing that task?” This will help you to develop a strong awareness of what is being said and felt by your people. It will also help you to be more compassionate and tuned into people’s mood changes.

 

4. Ask, listen, reflect

The best way to understand how someone is feeling is to ask them. Frustratingly this approach is widely overlooked. This leads to leadership teams being out of touch with their team and making assumptions instead of discovering what would help people and make cultural improvements.

Put your biases and views to one side and discover the sentiment of your team. You can then start to acknowledge people and communicate the plans you are implementing off the back of people’s answers. This will establish you as a leader who understands their people and cares. This will do wonders for team empowerment and motivation.

 

5. Implement people analytics

You probably don’t have the time to speak to everyone daily and empathize with their feelings and concerns. Most leaders don’t either! By sending out engagement or happiness surveys, you can gather real-time feedback from your people, so you can understand how everyone is feeling presently. You can then aggregate it to help you address the main concerns and focus areas. This will help you to easily create empathetic and meaningful action plans to boost culture, engagement and all-around happiness!

 

6. Be an empathetic leader

When you learn to understand your people better, you will start to have a workforce that trusts you and feels empowered to help the team achieve its goals. In today's working climate, being more empathetic is one of the most effective skills a leader can learn, and where “wandering eyes” looking for new opportunities are rife! Empathetic leaders are experts at building and maintaining relationships which is critical for any successful business leader.

 

In the end, empathy is a leadership capability that is well worth cultivating, a soft skill that leads to hard, tangible results. As our students continue to grow and progress, we hope that they do imbibe the important attribute of empathy to become better leaders and lead their teams in the most caring way possible.

 

 

Warm Regards!!

Melissa Maria

Principal