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If you’re an empathic leader, you will feel the suffering of others. A moderation of empathy is, of course, a useful means of connecting with the pain of our fellow humans, but a more compassionate leadership style can serve everyone better in the workplace.
Empathy enables us to metaphorically put ourselves into another person’s shoes rather than remaining entrenched in our own perspective. This can be useful yet also dangerous. Empathy is a high-risk factor linked to burnout, poor health, and exhaustion. Excessive empathy can also, ironically, make us feel more withdrawn and less sociable. Such a lack of social connectedness might sound trivial, yet it is more detrimental to our health than high blood pressure, obesity, or even smoking.
Taking action is the magic ingredient that transforms empathy into compassion. This matters when we understand the dramatically different psychological and physiological impacts that result from feeling empathy versus behaving compassionately.
When we are compassionate, the areas of our brain associated with positive feelings, such as love and social connection, are activated. This helps us to feel better in the moment – and researchers are also increasingly convinced compassion enables us to heal more quickly from illness and may even help us to live longer. As well as mental and physical health benefits, leaders should also note that compassion at work fosters greater employee engagement, more collaboration, and increased creativity.
So, don’t languish in empathy. Instead, use your empathic feelings wisely as a springboard to compassionate deeds. Such informed compassion benefits everyone involved, by boosting levels of pleasurable dopamine, feel-good oxytocin, and happy serotonin. By turning awareness of how others may be feeling into an impetus for compassion, leaders can become more sustainably effective and resilient.
Kirstie Drummond Papworth, author of Compassionate Leadership For Individual and Organisational Change