| | | |
| | Brought to you by Liz Hilton Segel, chief client officer and managing partner, global industry practices, & Homayoun Hatami, managing partner, global client capabilities
| | | | | | | |
| | | An “empath” is defined as a person who is highly attuned to the feelings of others, often to the point of experiencing those emotions themselves. This may sound like a quality that’s more helpful in someone’s personal life than in their work life, where emotions should presumably be kept at bay. Yet it turns out that the opposite may be true: displaying empathy in appropriate ways can be a powerful component of effective leadership. And when it’s combined with other factors such as technology and innovation, it can lead to exceptional business performance, such as breakthroughs in customer service. This week, we explore some strategies for leaders to enhance their empathy quotient.
| | |
| | | | | |
| | | “When I train leaders in empathy, one of the first hurdles I need to get over is this stereotype that empathy is too soft and squishy for the work environment,” says Stanford University research psychologist Jamil Zaki in an episode of our McKinsey Talks Talent podcast. Speaking with McKinsey partners Bryan Hancock and Brooke Weddle, Zaki suggests that, contrary to the stereotype, empathy can be a workplace superpower, helping to alleviate employee burnout and spurring greater productivity and creativity. Boosting managers’ empathetic skills is more important now than ever: “There’s evidence that during the time that social media has taken over so much of our lives, people’s empathy has also dropped,” says Zaki. Ways to improve leaders’ empathy in the workplace include infusing more empathy into regular conversations, rewarding empathic behavior, and automating some non-human-centric responsibilities so that managers can focus on mentorship. | | |
| | | | There are two kinds of empathy that may be helpful in business situations, according to professional speaker and author Minter Dial in a conversation with McKinsey. “One is affective empathy, where you feel what the other person is feeling,” he says. “So if you start crying, I’m going to cry. In a business case, the more interesting area is cognitive empathy, where I understand why you’re feeling what you’re feeling.” Where it gets tricky is when trying to teach AI to exhibit empathy. The data sets required to train it may not be effective yet, but an old-fashioned technique—active listening—might. “If you just are able to show that you’re listening and allow the other person to continue on speaking, to provide all the content, that kind of a machine really could work,” says Dial.
| | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | – Edited by Rama Ramaswami, senior editor, New York
| | |
| | | |
This email contains information about McKinsey’s research, insights, services, or events. By opening our emails or clicking on links, you agree to our use of cookies and web tracking technology. For more information on how we use and protect your information, please review our privacy policy. |
|
You received this email because you subscribed to the Leading Off newsletter. |
|
|
Copyright © 2024 | McKinsey & Company, 3 World Trade Center, 175 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10007 |
|
|
|
|
|
