Podcast: Leadership Characteristic 8: Empathy for Others

Are you a leader who makes others feel heard? That they matter?

In this episode of Behind the Curtain: Adventures in Continuous Improvement, podcast hosts Dr. Mohamed Saleh and John Dyer continue their multi-episode discussion about 10 critical leadership characteristics for team-based improvement. The focus of this podcast: empathy.

The two discuss the difference between empathy and sympathy and why the distinction matters. They delve into the components of empathy, which include being a good active listener, such that the other person feels heard. They emphasize the need for leaders to act on the information they receive.

It’s “not just being a sounding board, not just being a therapist, letting the person vent their anger,” Dyer says.

They speak to the importance of making sure others know you care and are concerned, and the value of showing vulnerability. Saleh talks about finding “the pebbles in people’s shoes … the things that are frustrating people in their processes every single day.”

The conversation touches on practicing mindfulness and showing emotional intelligence as components of empathy. The cohosts discuss how some organizations see empathy as a weakness, while Dyer and Saleh argue that it should be included in promotion criteria.