{"id":226670,"date":"2022-03-18T01:45:25","date_gmt":"2022-03-18T07:45:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/corevalues.com\/?p=226670"},"modified":"2022-03-18T01:45:25","modified_gmt":"2022-03-18T07:45:25","slug":"leading-with-empathy-in-the-hybrid-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corevalues.com\/dev\/2022\/03\/18\/leading-with-empathy-in-the-hybrid-workplace\/","title":{"rendered":"Leading with empathy in the hybrid workplace"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Leading<\/a><\/p>\n

Leading with empathy in the hybrid workplace dispels many practices that drove the industrial revolution. For example, the old saying, \u201cIt\u2019 business, not personal\u201d, means that financials were more important than anything human.\u00a0 The problem is that for employees it is personal. It is also emotional. Sayings like this serve to discount feelings. It diminishes empathy and emotional intelligence on the part of leaders. Leading with empathy in the hybrid workplace, on the other hand, changes the game.\u00a0 Big time.<\/p>\n

Perhaps as human-centered work cultures outpace their command and control cousins in the war for talent, the supportive leaders who master empathy now could be considered new profit centers in the future.<\/p>\n

How?<\/p>\n

As Ben Franklin said, a penny saved is a penny earned. Cost savings as well as productivity improvements increase profits. In a recent Ernst & Young survey, 54% of workers said they had quit a previous job because their boss wasn’t empathetic to challenges they were facing at work. Forty-nine percent left because of a lack of sensitivity to struggles in their personal lives\u00a0 High turnover like this tanks profits. This is measurable and\u00a0 quantifiable.<\/p>\n

Some leaders simply don\u2019t want you to feel bad when they dismiss your feelings<\/h3>\n

Empathy is the ability to work to understand the feelings, ideas and circumstances of another person, whether you agree with that person or not. It is based on curiosity rather than judgement.<\/p>\n

Saying things, such as \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t feel that way or it\u2019s not personal, it\u2019s just business\u201d is often rescuing behavior. The person delivering comments like these either is uncomfortable with emotions, can\u2019t get in touch with their own feelings or lacks the skills to listen to understand. As a result their intended rescue of you is in reality a rescue for themselves.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately the person who does this also dismisses you. Your feelings and emotional state of mind are unresolved and your psychological safety<\/a> to be respectfully sincere, frank and forthright about what is going on with you takes a hit.<\/p>\n

In a recent article in the Harvard Business Review<\/a>, Sarah Noll Wilson shares the following scenario:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be hard to know the right thing to say when someone discloses something painful or emotional to you. For example, one of our clients, Evie,* an IT manager, suffered through a miscarriage while working from home a few years ago. Her boss, Mike,* could tell something was off and called her to check in and see how she was feeling. When he called, she knew she couldn\u2019t lie, so she took a deep, courageous breath and shared, \u201cYou know, to be completely transparent with you, I want to let you know I am currently experiencing a miscarriage and really struggling with that \u2026 mentally and physically.\u201d Mike was silent for an extended period before finally saying, \u201cWell \u2026 do what you need to do,\u201d and quickly [ended] the phone call. Mike\u2019s reaction has stuck with Evie to this day, years later. In a moment of loss and suffering, she felt entirely unsupported. Was this his intention? No, but it was his impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

I could not agree more.<\/p>\n

Why some people check out and it looks like dismissing your feelings<\/h3>\n

There are people, who if they can\u2019t fix something when they really want to, check out. Frequently, all that is needed is the capacity to listen and respond with empathy.<\/p>\n

Imagine if Mike*, whose name was changed in the example, said, \u201cI am so sorry this is happening to you, Evie*.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t had the experience, but I can imagine it is a horrible loss. Do what you need to do and please keep me posted. Is there anything you need now?\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you think this would have changed how Evie* remembered the conversation?<\/p>\n

The value of empathetic human-centered leaders<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Human-centered leaders who are skilled at building trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk resolution and success (TIGERS) among their employees, in their hybrid teams and in their work initiatives, also build psychological safety. The value of psychological safety<\/a> is the ability to have conversations with employees that are supportive and get to the heart of issues, problems and mistakes facing employees.<\/p>\n

In a 2019 mental health report <\/a>prepared by Mind Share Partners, it was discovered that one in five Americans manage a diagnosable mental or emotional challenge each year. The report also found that:<\/p>\n