5 ways to cultivate empathy on your team
Empathy is perhaps our most defining characteristic as humans—but it’s also a fundamental leadership skill. Companies and organizations are as much about people, as they are about process, technology, or operations.
Certain leaders get this: They value understanding the people around them. They start with empathy—which enables them to build stronger teams, design more ingenious solutions, and deepen their emotional intelligence, an increasingly covetable skill in the next era of business.
In our work at SYPartners helping leaders drive change in a human-led way, we’re often asked how to cultivate more empathy.
Click on the tiles for some easy-to-try ideas and tips.
Take off your armor—empathy begets empathy.
Your ability to feel emotions is what triggers then in others. If you want to connect with someone, you have to let yourself be vulnerable too.
LEARN MORE >>
Don't just be there. Be present.
As Oprah often says: “Every human is looking for one thing, and that is to be validated, to be seen and to be heard.” Your job as a leader is to help others know they matter.
LEARN MORE >>
Catch every smile, tear, frown, and eye roll.
Thousands of invitations for empathy cross your path every day. Do you notice them and shift your behavior, or do you let them glide past?
LEARN MORE >>
Try on a new persona.
It’s not always possible to get all the necessary voices at the table. But that doesn’t mean you can’t summon your imagination and best acting skills to pressure-test your team’s thinking.
LEARN MORE >>
Go see for yourself.
It’s hard to get perspective when you sit at a desk every day. To better understand who you’re designing for or collaborating with, go to them where they are and observe their routines.
LEARN MORE >>
