EMPATHETIC LEADERSHIP

Empathetic leadership means having the ability to understand the needs of others and being aware of their feelings and thoughts.

Modern businesses are about people and relationships as well as sales and revenue.Empathetic leaders help employees and customers feel valued, which helps to create better relationships inside and outside of the business.

The following are some traits often seen in empathetic leaders and can be good inspiration for training needs to plan to meet within your existing leadership and management teams, for global business benefit:

·        Taking time to understand things from other peoples’ point of view. Empathetic leaders are skilled at reading non-verbal cues and assessing the emotional responses of others.Empathy can help managers to connect with their employees and understand their thoughts, feelings and emotions. In short, it can help managers to “read the room”. Empathic managers also tend to build better relationships with customers as they tend to take the time to understand the needs and wants of the customer.

·        High level of emotional intelligence.Not only are these leaders good at recognising their team member’s emotions,but they can regulate and control their own feelings in a measured way that is appropriate for a particular situation.

·        Committing to their decision while also being flexible in their approach. Empathetic leaders can quickly assess the needs and emotions of their team and adapt to the situation. This is especially helpful in a crisis or in a high-pressure situation.

·        Good at listening to and respecting the opinions or inputs of others while keeping things on track and in line with the overall business objective. This can help to create an innovative and creative culture where people are free to make suggestions that managers will consider in line with the overall strategy.

·        Encourage collaboration.

Empathetic leaders build better businesses. Their leadership style builds good connections and strong relationships with others. This creates close knit teams who tend to perform better which, in turn, drives the overall success of the business.

REASSURING YOUR TEAM IN TIMES OF UNCERTAINTY

In businesses across the country, employees are dealing with increasing uncertainty. They are experiencing a cost-of-living crisis and interest rates are rising rapidly, which means some will be worried about paying their mortgages. Energy costs have increased, tech companies are laying off staff and in other sectors there is a shortage of qualified staff.

Especially when you have new business messages to deliver, the business managers need to be willing and able to reassure concerned team members and need to be able to respond to their questions in order to maintain morale and avoid losing key talent.

The most important thing that business leaders can do in this type of economic environment is to stop and think about how best to communicate consistently.The management team need to be on the same page, and they all need to know what’s going to be said so they are prepared to handle any questions that they receive. Otherwise, the message could be undermined.

During uncertain times, it is important to communicate with your people face to face.It may be easier to send an email, but a good business leader should speak to their people in person. Prepare to share key messages and allow time for questions afterwards. Invite feedback and suggestions as this shows that you value your team members’ input.

It is important to acknowledge any new information that comes to light in a developing situation. However, it’s also important to avoid making promises that you can’t keep. After all, if a promise falls through, it really undermines the management team.

If there is bad news to be conveyed, then keep it simple and straightforward. Use plain English and explain why certain decisions have been made. If you want to reassure people in uncertain times, you need to share the business’s strategy with them; be clear about where the firm is going and how you plan to get there.

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