Leading with Empathy: Supporting Your Workplace Through Active Listening
“I don’t know what it is about listening. I just know when I’m heard, it feels damned good.”
- Carl Rogers.
In today’s fast-paced world, where productivity often takes precedence over personal connection, it’s easy to overlook the power of empathy in leadership. Yet, leading with empathy can transform workplace dynamics, fostering trust, collaboration, and ultimately, success. One of the most potent tools in a leader’s arsenal for practising empathy is “active listening”. By genuinely hearing and understanding the thoughts, feelings, and concerns of your team members, you can create a supportive and inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and heard.
The Power of Empathy in Leadership
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. It is not sympathy or pity; it is a sharing of experiences and feelings with you and another person. In a professional setting, empathetic leaders can effectively connect with their team members on a human level, recognising their unique experiences, perspectives, and emotions. This fosters a sense of belonging and psychosocial safety, which is essential for promoting innovation, creativity, and productivity. Many believe that the key to developing empathy is through active listening.
The Role of Active Listening
Active listening is one of the fundamental skills in motivational interviewing. Kiasma coaches have received extensive training in MI and active listening, but leaders can start applying basic skills to conversations with employees straight away. Active listening is a fundamental component of empathy in leadership. Unlike passive listening, where one simply hears the words being spoken, active listening involves fully engaging with the speaker verbally and non-verbally. It requires concentration, attention to body language, and a genuine desire to understand the speaker’s perspective.
So, what does active listening look like?
Give full attention: When engaging in a conversation, put away distractions and focus entirely on the speaker. Maintain eye contact, nod occasionally, and provide verbal cues (such as “I see,” or “That makes sense”) to show that you are actively listening.
Empathise: Try to put yourself in the speaker’s shoes and see the situation from their perspective (rather than yours). Validate their feelings and experiences, even if you don’t agree with them. This demonstrates empathy and helps to build rapport.
Ask clarifying questions: If something is unclear or ambiguous, don’t hesitate to ask for clarification. This shows that you are genuinely interested in understanding the speaker’s message and can help prevent misunderstandings. When unsure, ask the person you're speaking with to ‘tell you more about that’. This will provide clarification for both of you.
Reflect back: Reflections are often used in motivational interviewing as an active listening skill. We’re essentially showing that we’re listening with our words. Reflecting involves repeating back what the person has said to you in their words or yours. You can also paraphrase what the speaker has said to confirm understanding and show that you are listening attentively. Reflecting back not only reinforces the speaker’s message but also allows them to correct any misinterpretations.
Avoid interrupting: Resist the urge to interrupt or interject your thoughts while the speaker is talking. In most cases, this isn’t about you. Let them express themselves fully before offering your perspective or advice. Silence really is golden. Allow time for the person you’re talking to to think before responding.
Stay on their agenda: We may have our own thoughts and feelings about a situation that an employee is bringing to the table, but active listening involves staying on their agenda rather than yours in that moment. Let them discuss the situation in full before offering any arguments, debate, thoughts or advice, and only offer solutions with permission. This empowers the employee and builds trust.
The Impact of Empathetic Leadership
Work culture is everything. We’re at work for the best part of our days and the culture that you experience there can affect all areas of our health and wellbeing. By leading with empathy and supporting your workplace through active listening, you can create a happier, more inclusive, supportive, and high-performing team. Employees will feel valued, heard, and empowered to bring their whole selves to work, leading to greater engagement, creativity, and resilience. Ultimately, cultivating empathy in leadership isn’t just good for business—it’s good for people too.
