[April 8, 2015] The best piece of simple advice I ever received as a junior military officer was that the reality about leadership is that it’s all about people. Senior leaders know that empathy helps us create and maintain bonds of trust; acting as the lubricant that keeps relationships on track.
“You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.”—Malcolm S. Forbes
Empathy is an emotion that means to understand another person’s situation, feelings, and motives. A number of studies over the past decade have lead to the unsurprising conclusion that those who embrace empathy are more successful in business. This means increased sales, enhanced performance of teams, and retention of quality talent. In particular this has become truer as our workplaces have become more culturally diverse.
The venture capitalist Michael Moritz has been called one of the greatest recognizers of innovative talent in America. For example, he invested early in Google when all indicators and predictions went against his decision. Moritz cultivated a skill few cared about; he developed the ability to empathize with company founders and his success was based on that simple quality. Sometime later in an interview he said that the thing he was most terrified of was losing that empathy.
In a fast-changing world that is more complex and dynamic than ever before, problems arise that we rarely predict and cannot reasonably prepare ourselves. Empathy allows us to connect to others, to gain their trust and confidence, and expand the loyalty of people so as to overcome the unpredictable. Those who are the most successful of leaders recognize empathy for what it can do to benefit everyone and are not reluctant to make it a part of themselves.
Senior leaders with the characteristic of empathy are also those who have developed a record of absolute clarity in their vision and success in achieving their organization’s mission. It is the emotion of empathy that has allowed them to bring other people aboard and to act as a catalyst to create a positive work environment and at the end of the day for the greater good.
Senior leadership means having empathy. This is one of the most important differences in successful leaders.
[Don’t forget to “Like” the Leader Maker at our Facebook Page.]