WALL STREET JOURNAL: “Empathy is one of the "most sought after management skills”.?

There’s a very interesting article from the Wall Street Journal talking about the new “Empathy Management Trend”.This follows on recent McKinsey quotes which clearly spell out the growing necessity for, and demand for, empathy as a required ‘skill’ for leadership.

I have been writing about precisely this since I began publishing articles on LinkedIn - and it has been a priority for me since long before that, even though, at times, this approach has sometimes been seen as not compatible with a ‘profit’ or ‘professional business’ leadership mindset.

Nevertheless, I’ve understood that this is where leadership is heading. Perhaps I’ve been a bit ahead of the curve, but not anymore.

The first link in this article was referenced by a LinkedIn News post. One of the aggregated comments below that post makes an interesting point that I’d like to draw attention to because I think it’s something many leaders are faced with.

David Neal said in his comment: “I’m not sure if you can “train” empathy, but I certainly developed more as a leader with experience and growth. Not that I didn’t care before, I just couldn’t prioritize my own tasks and the requirements of effective “managing” to do a better job of stopping to listen to my people. I do think you have to genuinely care, and that is probably more intrinsic to a person’s character.”

If you’ve read any of my previous articles recently, you’ll notice that I’ve been talking a lot more about #Optevo lately. The reason is that there are so many frustrations in almost everyone’s business day that it can help eliminate. These frustrations are costing us in terms of lost profitability, lost time not to mention the significant cost ramifications of stress. That alone could easily take more than one article to discuss!

What David Neal highlighted in his comment is just one more example of a huge frustration most leaders and employees experience on a daily basis. Note what he says:?

“...Not that I didn’t care before, I just couldn’t prioritize my own tasks and the requirements of effective “managing” to do a better job of stopping to listen to my people...”

There’s probably not a leader today who hasn’t faced this challenge regularly. I’m not going to go into a whole lot of detail here about how #Optevo helps overcome this - except to say that it makes prioritization much easier and frees up a lot of time, taking a great deal of pressure off leaders, giving them the headspace to be able to stop and listen to their people.

The fact is, as all the big business analysts and research organizations are beginning to say, stopping to listen to our people is step one in preventing talent attrition and attracting high-level talent who are prepared to stick around long-term.?

I should qualify that. It’s listening and hearing what is being said and what’s not being said. Then going on to respond in a way that tells our people that we genuinely do care about what’s going on with them. So much so that we’re prepared to move out of the comfort zone of ‘business as usual’ to create a work environment that makes people want to give their best long-term. An environment that supports their desire to be heard, to do meaningful work and to make a difference.

I’ve spoken before about organizations that have been doing this for some time and how this has positively affected their profitability.?

It’s time for the rest of us leaders to step away from the woods and take a good, hard look at the trees to see the direction the wind is blowing and shaping their growth.?Those who don’t pay attention are going to get the opposite of what they’re aiming at. Their profitability will suffer, especially if profitability is the only thing they care about.?

Paying attention is simple business sense. Maybe not the ‘traditional’ business sense, but nothing about the past few years has been ‘traditional’, has it?

And while it’s not fully the organization’s responsibility to make everything ‘better’, I do think it’s up to the organization to make the next move.?There has been a shift precipitated by a workforce who're tired of 'business as usual', and it’s now time for a response. How we leaders respond is up to us and we will have to live with our decisions. It’s time for us to really analyze the current trends and how they're being played out. Especially in our own organizations.

What are your thoughts on this topic?

Am I wrong? Is it too difficult, or impractical to achieve a work environment where empathy and respect is prioritized? Is there something I’m not seeing??I’d really appreciate your insights and discussion about this.

#Empathy #WSJ #WallStreetJournal #Leadership #HybridWork #RemoteWork #Optevo #CWM #business #technology #innovation #Integrity #FutureOfWork