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Leading with Empathy: Transform Your Team and Achieve Lasting Results

Updated: Dec 29, 2024

Jim Rohn (Entrepreneur & Author): "As a leader, you should always start with where people are before you try to take them where you want them to go."


Close your eyes. What if…


It’s possible! For the last 3 weeks, we’ve covered heightening self-awareness, feedback, and applying feedback through addressing conflict, mindset, and motivation. If you’ve followed this series, you’ve already done the groundwork. The foundational work to effectively lead change is internal—how you communicate and the relationship with your teams. And that’s where empathy comes into the picture. Show your team you care. Listen. Ask questions. Make them part of the process.


The Power of Perspective Taking


To lead organizational change, it’s imperative to practice perspective taking. When the leader sets a vision and moves ahead without applying empathy in communication and building strong relationships with their team, it can significantly affect the desired outcome.


Why does it matter? The vision may not be fully executed. Without empathy, leaders risk not only missing their goals but also losing the trust and engagement of their teams. They have no personal stake.


Empathy in Action


Earlier this year, I had to eliminate a few positions. My workload doubled. One of my departments wasn’t achieving the necessary results. I had my own idea of what needed to change. I could have just done what I had done in the past—scheduled a meeting, walked into the room and with an iron fist told everyone what needed to change. And if they didn’t, there would be consequences.


That doesn’t deliver lasting results. Lasting results come from having an engaged team. How would they solve the problem if they were in charge? Initially, their solutions may be surface level. Keep asking questions.


I scheduled a meeting with one of our sales teams. I showed them where we were and where we needed to be. The first meeting was surface level. I had managed this team directly in the past, but it had been a while. And some of the personnel had changed. In the second meeting, I asked similar questions and got different answers—deeper answers related to the root of the problem we were trying to solve. They didn’t quite get to where I wanted, but it was a good start.


It took longer than I wanted—it took 2 months for them to help paint the vision of success alongside me.


Key Elements


  • Active Listening: Note that both your questions, responses, and non-verbal cues like body language and facial expressions speak to others. Listen to their concerns and ideas. What if they think of something you have not?

  • Personalized Support: Be mindful that different members of your team may need different kinds of support.

  • Transparency: Be open and honest about challenges and changes within the organization. They can see things that you may assume they can’t.



How can this work in a large-scale organization?


Take Microsoft, for example. Satya Nadella took over as Microsoft's CEO in February 2014. At that time, Microsoft was struggling to keep up with industry trends and innovation. The company had missed key opportunities, and its stock performance was lagging. The culture was seen as bureaucratic and internally competitive, which stifled creativity and collaboration.


Nadella initiated a cultural transformation focused on empathy, collaboration, and innovation. He shifted the company's focus to cloud and mobile technologies and emphasized a growth mindset. Under his leadership, Microsoft's valuation surged from $300 billion to $3 trillion, making it one of the most valuable companies in the world.



Your Role in Leading Change


Take a few minutes to reflect and be honest.


  • When was the last time you made your team part of the change process?

  • What went well?

  • What could you do differently?


To practice empathy and make your team part of the process, may take longer. It may be over the course of weeks or months to arrive at a shared perspective. This is about implementing lasting change, not short-term results.

 
 
 

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