Why Leaders and Managers Need Empathy for Success?

By Dr. Srirang Jha

Empathy is all about having a deeper sensitivity towards others. Indeed, a natural knack for relating to others is a building block of lasting social relationships. As human beings are social animals, they wish to be cared and thought about in all the interactions. Hence, empathy is important within the family, in the society at large and of course at workplaces where we spend significant part of our lives while earning our livelihoods. Success of leaders and managers depend on their abilities to understand their colleagues in an objective manner and extending appropriate support whenever required.

However, empathy is not at all about feeling sorry for others who are in pain or accommodating needs of others at the cost of our own discomfort. For example, if someone is walking on the streets of Delhi on a wintry evening and spots a beggar who is barely covered, giving his/her own jacket would be an act of sympathy and not empathy. On the other hand, a sense or genuine feeling that so many people on the streets are braving cold waves without proper clothes is empathy that may trigger an action plan for collecting old clothes from the affluent people and distribute the same among the needy.  

Daniel Goleman, a pioneering management thinker, has talked about three types of empathy:

1. Cognitive empathy: ability of the person to understand perspectives of others, also it is about ability to look into what and how the other person thinks;
2. Emotional empathy: ability of the person to sense what someone else feels;
3. Empathetic concerns: ability to sense expectations of others.

Before relating to others, we need to discover our own persons. No wonder, self-awareness is a master-key to empathy. Once we complete the journey of our self-discovery, we are ready to move on a more discreet path of mindful awareness –something widely practices by Buddhist monks spread across the world. Of late, a good number of leaders and managers from corporate world have started showing interest in mindful awareness. It enables us to have a constant and conscious look at the world around us. So if we see people in pain, we can relate it to our own experiences in the past. 

Here I will like to share one of my experiences which helped me become more empathetic. Just after my graduation, I joined a one-year training program on special education at School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Action for ability Development and Inclusion where I had to work with physically and neurologically challenged children. We had lecture sessions for three days while we were attached to a class during two days. In the inaugural session, the then director Ms Gloria Burette told all the trainees that they need not be sympathetic towards the special kids, rather they have to demonstrate empathy. 

In spite of several sensitization sessions to help the trainees develop empathy towards the special children, many of the trainees, including myself, were not able to relate to them. However, one of the indents changed my whole outlook about differently-abled people. Once I was chosen as a volunteer to help the kids in off-site camp where they would be away from their families and under our care for almost 24 hours. In the morning, I saw one of the kids struggling to brush his teeth in the bathroom. But he was not able to hold the brush. I went close to him and cleaned his teeth with my own fingers. Although so far I had maintained a distance from the kids because they were always drooling and their clothes were unclean as they would drop edibles while eating. Anyway, I helped the kid in brushing and bathing. After a week, I was sent to his class for teaching practice. I had almost forgotten about the camp incident. As soon as I entered the class, that boy exclaimed with joy, ‘aren’t you the same bhaiya who cleaned my teeth’. I was so touched. This was totally unexpected. That day I realised that the special kids were also like us who would appreciate, be grateful and wish to connect to the other person. Thus I gained an insight into the mind of the special kids (cognitive empathy), touched by his feeling toward me (emotional empathy) and his need to relate to me as equal –I touched his heart and he touched mine (empathetic concerns).

Experience is the greatest tutor we can afford. Hence, we should always try to seek experiences which help us unfold our inner selves and become a better person who is able to relate to the other person without any sense of piety or guilt. In the organizational context, leaders and managers who go extra miles to understand others, relate to them on equal terms and appreciate their concerns are often successful. Such people get tremendous support from their colleagues in order to realise the vision and mission of the organization by stretching themselves and leveraging their unconditional discretionary efforts.                        

Empathy is not just for the leaders and managers but also for those who are doing their MBAs or PGDM as well as aspiring managers. So start your journey of cultivating empathy by embarking on self-discovery, mindful awareness and seeking appropriate experiences.

About the Author: 

Dr. Srirang Jha is currently Associate Professor & Head, HR Area at Apeejay School of Management, New Delhi. Dr Jha holds a Master’s degree in Labour and Social Welfare and PhD in Social Sciences from T M Bhagalpur University. He has published over 500 articles in newspapers and journals such as The Economic Times, Times of India, The Hindu, Hindustan Times, Yojna, FIIB Business Review, etc. His areas of interest are public policy issues in financial institutions, labour market, public health, corporate social responsibility and education. He serves as managing editor of International Journal of Management Research.