Today there is a lot of talk about the winning factor in leadership being 'empathy'. We should be empathetic leaders who are human, see the individual and give feedback. Yet I still quite often meet management teams who say things like: "we can only do this if managers say they have time." In other words, time to give employees feedback on their thoughts once a week.
I ask myself: if they don't have time for this, why are they managers? I know that there may be other solutions, but I also know that the biggest challenge today is to bring reflection into everyday life. At the same time, we know that what employees miss most from their manager is feedback.
Is empathic leadership just a word we throw out because it sounds good? Should we distinguish between sitting and making decisions on operational matters and leading people to get where we want to go? Or is it that meeting has gone a step too far?
We don't have time to see the individual because we're so busy participating in what's expected and visible. So the simplest but most important thing is what we do with our left hand. A bit like Alfie's dad: "I'll just..."
Pia Nilsson,
CEO
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Speaking of empathetic leadership, we also know that soft values are becoming increasingly important. If you'd like to talk more about how to become an empathic leader for real, get in touch and we'll talk further.