Compassion vs Empathy: Exploring the Leadership Debate

Compassion and empathy: two terms that may seem interchangeable to the uninitiated. However, they have sparked a debate that has wide-ranging complications for the corporate leadership world.

If you were asked to treat a colleague with ‘compassion’ instead of ‘empathy’, you’d be just as lost as anyone who did not know the difference between the terms would.

So what makes the two emotions distinct from the other? While empathy is an attempt to resonate with the other’s emotions to feel their situation yourself, compassion is represented by the willingness to understand their emotions, except with intent to help.

Empathy is a way to truly fee what others are going through. It is a heartful way to assure your direct reports that their concerns are valid, and that their leader resonates with the emotions that they’re going through.?

However, while it is genuine in what it seeks to do, it is also something that may bear heavily on the listener. When you attempt to empathize with an individual, you unknowingly make their concerns your own and “mirror the emotions of others ”. As a result, you feel a personal attachment to their struggle, which may blind you from those that others are engulfed with.?

Compassion on the other hand represents an intent to help. You may empathize with an employee’s concerns, but not necessarily act on them. This is where compassion comes in; not only does it ensure that you are thinking from a problem-solving perspective, but you don’t drown in others’ sorrows and forget about the many others who need your help as much.

Below are 5 reasons why you should empathize with others, but follow it up with a compassionate outlook:

1)?To keep yourself level-headed: As Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever puts it, “If I led with empathy, I would never be able to make a single decision. Why? Because with empathy, I mirror the emotions of others, which makes it impossible to consider the greater good and make the right decisions. You need to have empathy on a human level but run a business with compassion.” That conveys the point and more.?

2)?To reap the benefits: Potential Project’s research finds that leaders who lead with compassion over empathy reap the following benefits:

• They show a 12 percent decreased risk of burnout
• An 11 percent decrease in mortality risk
• A 30 percent higher level of subjective well-being
• A 14 percent greater confidence in their leadership ability.

3)?To further organizational success: With empathy, you restrict yourself to caring for an individual. With compassion, you balance their concerns with those of others, and that of the organization. The plate of a leader is always full; you can seldom afford ignoring the many in favor of one.

4)?To show equal care and concern: You risk irking your employees if you show bias towards one individual by empathizing solely with their concerns. Being compassionate allows you to be equal, and being equal is being wise.?

5) To prioritize your mental well-being: Being empathetic can take a toll on you; you start thinking from the individual’s perspective and find yourself absorbed in their sorrows. As a leader, such practices can take a toll on your mental health too. By showing it due concern and not drowning in their story, you give yourself a better chance to help them.?

Don’t get me wrong; empathy is a golden emotion that has made the workplace better. But as a leader, you cannot afford to get trapped into a story by reflecting their emotions instead of hearing what is important and moving on to helping them. The latter is compassion, a step beyond empathy and a leap ahead of it.?