Empathy is the ability to experience and relate to different people’s thoughts, emotions, or experiences by describing them differently.

In basic terms, empathy is all about putting yourself in another person’s shoes, understanding and identifying their feelings, and then responding to them accordingly.

Empathy is a valuable feeling, but you might think about how empathy relates to leadership? Well, it has always been a critical skill for leaders. As a leader or mentor, a can-do, never-give-up attitude will likely help you succeed because empathy can have powerful results for you, your employees, and your business. To be empathetic, you need to go beyond caring for others because it’s a cornerstone of building trust among your team, just like I did in Netsol Technologies.

In my experience, I have seen compassionate leadership brings excellent benefits that can leverage a company’s success. But, at the same time, employees also should consider this leadership competency as a support ecosystem and avoid taking any undue advantage.

In the workplace context, empathy simply means that your people can establish authentic, understanding connections with one another that enhance relationships and performance because, in the workplace, it is productive and supportive. Here are a few strategies to practice:

Innovation
It’s an old saying that, “A team is as good as the leader.” if you want to keep your team members motivated to become the best version of themselves, you have to gain a greater awareness of their needs. Innovation is a result of having at heart the best interests of the people you serve.

Retention of employees
To keep your organization intact, a leader should give equal respect to all of their employees and maintain a goal to value the talented employees to foster a positive work atmosphere. Shine a light on their notable achievements; whether your team finishes ahead of the deadline on a major project or a worker reaches a work anniversary, seize the opportunity to mark the milestone together.

Engagement
Employee engagement is becoming one of the most critical indicators in gauging work satisfaction. Employees engaged at work are more likely to be productive consistently, which leads to creating more revenue. So make it a priority to invest in your organization and its people to boost employee engagement.

Inclusivity
Inclusion is a vital component in today’s organization and beyond. To be successful, organizations have to be inclusive. When employees feel included, they feel a sense of belonging that drives increased positive performance results and create collaborative teams that are innovative and engaging.

Work-life Balance
Being a leader how do you manage your deadlines? A healthy work-life balance is essential for better performance. Leaders need to know that their team members have lives outside of work, therefore, encouraging employees to set boundaries and take their vacation time.

Empathy is often overlooked, but it’s one of the most valuable traits a leader can have because it can hinder your business in ways you don’t even imagine. So when leaders hone their empathetic leadership skills, they improve their effectiveness and become very successful.