Used thoughtfully, empathy can support a leader’s ability to understand what their team members are experiencing and respond with greater care. Empathy involves making a genuine effort to understand the feelings and perspectives of others. It can help create conditions for trust, communication and collaboration. Here are eight practical ways leaders can put it into practice:
- Listen actively. Give team members your full attention when they share thoughts, concerns or ideas. Avoid interrupting and check that you have understood their perspective before responding.
- Encourage open communication. Invite honest dialogue and be approachable. Make it clear that concerns will be heard and considered, even when the eventual decision is difficult.
- Understand individual needs. Recognise that people have different strengths, challenges and motivations. Ask what support would be useful instead of assuming the same approach will work for everyone.
- Consider their point of view. Pause to consider how a situation may look from another person’s position, including the pressures and information available to them.
- Acknowledge emotions. Recognise when someone is struggling or celebrating. You do not have to solve or endorse an emotion to show that you have heard it.
- Offer appropriate support. When a team member is facing difficulty, ask what would help and work with them on a realistic next step.
- Approach conflict with curiosity. Listen to the relevant perspectives, distinguish facts from assumptions and look for a fair way forward.
- Lead by example. Show the same attention and respect in your own interactions that you expect from the wider team.
Empathy does not mean agreeing with every point of view or avoiding difficult decisions. It means taking another person’s experience into account before deciding how to respond. That can be harder under time pressure, but it may support stronger relationships and more considered communication.
In Ground+Air terms, this is Air in practice: noticing what is happening, widening perspective and choosing a more deliberate leadership response.