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An often overseen and trivialize quality of a truly effective leader is their ability to exemplify empathy in corporate culture.
There exists a new rise in demand of a great leader rather than just a good manager to create a good work culture and lead an organization on the path of success. Recent trends in leadership showcases the demand of empathy along with the high-driven zeal to work with the organization, for the organization and for self as well.
Making empathy central to your company culture along with the performance-driven outlook is the new highlighter for job fit. But often the quality of great leaders that went overseen and trivialize is – empathy. Prominent leaders such as Naushad Forbes, Saugata Gupta, Bharat Puri, Pankaj Arora, and Shailesh Haribhakti stress on the Importance of Empathy in the Workplace and in leadership.
Hence, the question arises, how making empathy central to your company culture has to do with the exceptional leadership in success of any organizational goal.
Tech-firms makes up to 60% of the empathy index (an annual ranking of businesses on the basis of how empathetic they are), as per the reports of Empathy Index, 2016.
The list for top big MNCs ruling the market globally with effective empathy- Microsoft, Facebook, Tesla, Alphabet (Google), Procter & Gamble, Apple, Johnson & Johnson, Walt Disney, Prudential Financial and Audi. (https://www.cornerstoneondemand.com/resources/article/10-companies-putting-empathy-action)
Nestle India Chairman Suresh Narayanan said:
“Leadership is all about being effective by being authentic, empathetic, empowering, inspiring, enabling and trusting. Empathy should be like air … Sadly, in our corporate world, being successful goes with arrogance, ruthlessness, greed, ego and hubris.”
In the era of rising job lay-offs, high-level managers, righteously stated great leaders, are looking for a new human skill in the employees, i.e., empathy along with required job skills. The new age trends in leadership demands empathy at all levels of the employment. Creating a positive workplace culture in any and almost every MNC today.
“Performance and empathy go together very nicely,”
said Naushad Forbes, co-chairman at Forbes Marshall.
“Empathy is a much sought-after soft skill today and the old adage of ‘crack the whip’ is becoming increasingly irrelevant,”
said Jyoti Bowen Nath, managing partner at executive search firm Claricent Partners.
Rashmi in employee working for the XYZ Company. She is a senior executive of the company. Due to heavy workload, she works for 10-12 hours daily. The behavioural change was noticeable due to the burnout. Without even considering, she ordered that all the employees under her must work for the same amount of time. The burnout started showcasing effects on professional and personal front. Being a leader, you would not want your colleagues to follow this mantra and suffer and affect the quality of the productivity and hamper personal life as well. So, by being mindful and empathetic, the executive can inculcate the sense of being heard, valued, and understood in the corporate among the employees so they can emotionally resonate with each other at all designated levels.
As we move forward to 2024, the only certain thing existing in near future and present is abruptly ongoing uncertainty. Economic, political, health, and environmental disruptions make it challenging to predict exactly what to plan for or lead in which direction. We need to focus more on individual’s emotional balance. The success of any organization will be based on its ability to understand and serve the shifting needs of its customers, employees, and communities.