Industry Insights 5 Empathetic Leadership To Maximize Business Results

Industry Insights

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Empathetic Leadership To Maximize Business Results

by | Dec 12, 2022 | Featured, Leadership, Nearshoring

About The Author Steve Taplin

Steve Taplin, CEO of Sonatafy Technology, is a serial entrepreneur with extensive expertise in software development, MVP product development and the management of staff augmentation services.

Empathy is the capacity to internalize and share the feelings of others. Business is about teamwork, and leadership is crucial to having well-performing teams. Empathy and leadership are potent and can lead to better business results than cold, non-empathetic leadership. Empathy has always been essential for leaders, but it is taking on a different and more vital role in modern business.

However, in the past, empathy has been used as a buzzword, with its application seen sporadically in business, particularly in the tech industry. This article will outline how empathetic leadership can lead to maximized business results.

What Empathetic Leadership Is

Empathetic leadership is a style of organizational leadership that primarily focuses on understanding others and their points of view instead of only caring about employees’ output. According to Tony Robbins, “Empathetic leaders take a genuine interest in the people around them.” Empathetic leaders will honestly try to discover their motivations and desires. Connecting deeply with the people they lead offers a more humane approach to leadership instead of barking orders and having team members follow them without question.

As with any leadership style, there are downsides to compassionate leadership, like employees taking advantage, but the pros significantly outweigh the cons. Empathetic leadership is not only about listening to what employees have to say; it is also about responding to their feedback. Only when there are tangible changes can compassionate leadership results be beneficial.

Importance Of Empathetic Leadership

Empathetic leadership can help maximize business results in many ways, including:

Increased Innovation

Innovation is crucial for every business, especially software companies. The technology industry changes at an alarmingly fast pace, which is only getting faster. Firms must continuously innovate to keep up with the competition, let alone stay ahead. Empathetic leadership creates a better environment for innovation than an authoritarian style that lacks empathy. Employees who know their leaders are compassionate are more likely to be creative and experiment with new ideas than they would otherwise. Empathetic leaders encourage their team to consider others, which often leads the employees to believe in more diverse perspectives, leading to better innovation and products that are likely to thrive in the market.

Better Employee Retention

The competition to obtain and retain top talent in the tech industry is often vicious. Companies are always trying to one-up each other, so they must do all they can to keep their best people. Firms with empathetic leadership are more likely to retain productive and innovative employees than companies without empathetic leadership. Employees will remain at a software firm where they know the leadership will duly consider their input and the necessary changes implemented. Empathy also creates a more conducive work environment, meaning a higher chance of career success, which will encourage employees to remain at the company. When a company can keep its best employees, it will maximize its business results.

More Engaged Employees

It is not enough for employees to show up at work, especially in software companies in such a competitive tech industry. According to Gallup, about 14% of all employees are disengaged at work, and all of that untapped potential can lead to poor business results. Disengaged employees at the workplace also cause lower productivity, poor work quality, higher staff turnover and more accidents, which will cost you money and reduce performance.

Empathetic leadership leads to having more engaged employees at the office. Employees will be more involved when they feel like a treasured part of the team and not mere cogs in a corporate machine. Empathetic leadership includes showing employees how their work contributes to company goals. They will know their work has a purpose, and their contribution and feedback matter.

Better Work-Life Balance

By studying nature, we find that balance is the key to life; the same goes for an organization. Companies with non-empathetic leaders typically have poor work-life balance, which leads to poor work performance and, eventually, subpar business results. On the other hand, empathetic leaders are more likely to consider their employees’ considerations outside of work, including family and personal issues. When such matters are settled, employees can easily focus on work and be more engaged, leading to better results. Therefore, empathetic leadership can lead to a better work-life balance, allowing employees to navigate the demands of their work better.

Better Mental Health

Mental health is becoming increasingly more pertinent in the tech industry and the corporate world. Employers must address their employees’ mental health issues to have better-performing employees. Empathetic leadership is the best way to ensure employees have better mental health. Showing employees that you genuinely care about them gives them a safe space where they are more confident talking about their mental health problems. Employees can address mental issues like depression and anxiety that prevent them from functioning optimally in the workplace. Employees with better mental health maximize business results across the board.

Empathetic leadership is not a fad and is proving to be one of the best leadership styles today. The tech industry is incredibly competitive, and for software companies, empathetic leadership is a way to improve business results. Now that you know what empathetic leadership is and how it can help maximize business results, you can implement it at your firm. The results of empathetic leadership will speak for themselves in the long run.


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