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Authority more than empathy is a quality traditionally associated with management.
Yet empathy is one of those underrated attributes that receives minimal attention in most management textbooks but can be a key element in building employee loyalty.
I was recently reminded of this point in, of all places, a LinkedIn management discussion from Poland. One of the managers was circulating an article I'd written several years ago involving a DDI study showing that a boss's empathy was strongly connected to positive employee job performance—but that only "40 percent of frontline leaders" were regarded as "proficient or strong in empathy." The main point of the Polish management dialogue? With all the many hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, managerial empathy was now especially important.
Sign of Weakness?
I was able to translate (through LinkedIn's handy translation feature) the conversation and its insightful observations. To give a feel for it:
"An empathetic manager—do you remember such people in your career?" asked Paulina Laczek-Ciecwierz, president of the board at Recruitment International Consulting Group. "Perhaps this person changed your perspective or your career direction? Among top managers, only about 40 percent show the characteristics of an empathetic leader who tries to understand, listen, and carefully answer employees' questions. Unfortunately, empathy is wrongly seen as a weakness... Let us remember especially in times of crisis that employees are brand ambassadors... Empathy cannot be counted in Excel, but it helps builds the right atmosphere at work."
Half a world away, I agreed on all fronts. Empathy matters. In hard times more than ever. But show too much empathy as a young manager and you may well be judged as not having "the right stuff" for management.
How to Be a Positive Difference-Maker
Sure, an effective manager needs authority. No argument there. Management is no dinner party or walk in the park. Stay in the business long enough and you'll likely have to make hard, wrenching decisions that affect people's lives. But on the other hand, a steady diet of nothing but authority for breakfast, lunch, and dinner wears pretty thin too.
Though the value of displaying some level of empathy may just seem like common sense, the reality is that in the aggregate business tends not to attract the same sorts of personalities as does, say, psychotherapy or social work. Or, to put it another way, consistent with the findings of the study noted above, I'd have to say, truth be told, that a reasonable number of managers I worked with over the years showed about as much empathy as a good solid deck chair.
Which is worth keeping in mind in these crazy pandemic days. Of course, it's not just a pandemic that brings the need for a little empathy to the managerial fore; it could be any number of common business stressors. Companywide layoffs, senior management changes, competitive pressures, etc.—all kinds of dislocations can send shock waves of anxiety rippling through an organization. But the wreckage of COVID-19 is surely a convenient example at this point in time.
So as my new management friends from Poland reminded me: A little empathy goes a long way. Their words were also a nice reminder that social media, for all the undeniable problems it can cause, can connect people in far-flung places in unexpected, helpful ways.
