The power of empathy in leadership: Why it matters and how you can apply it effectively

Sensing the mood is not as mysterious as it might sound to some. Several experiments and studies have shown that the ability to sense the mood is a natural ability in humans and most animals, even mice and rats. They have what one would call a well-developed empathy, and if you have good empathy combined with awareness of how empathy affects other people in leadership and teamwork relations, you can help create an atmosphere in which collaboration and leadership can function well. Empathy has been studied for hundreds of years, although there are many academic discussions about nuances of the definition, just as there are with the concept of trust, there is a lot of research pointing clearly in the same direction. Try to see the overlap in these descriptions:

• An albino rat sees another rat hanging in the air in a harness. The rat hanging in the air is clearly stressed. The albino rat pushes the lever that safely lowers the rat to the ground. He stays close to the stressed companion.
• Another rat sees a suffering companion receiving electric shocks and does not push the lever but flees to the corner, farthest from the screams.
• In an experiment with rhesus monkeys, the monkeys were trained so that when they pulled on some chains, they received different amounts of food. The researchers now changed the rules: When one monkey pulled the chain with the largest amount of food, another monkey received an electroshock. Two-thirds then preferred the small portion of food. Of the remaining third, one did not pull the chain for five days, and another monkey did not touch the chain for 12 days, resulting in the monkey starving. We also know that newborn babies normally react to other babies crying by crying themselves.

For empathy is an evolutionary phenomenon, just as Charles Darwin himself suggested it. If someone in the group sees or senses something dangerous, this will send signals to the observer’s amygdala, where the fight, freeze, and flight responds are. At the same time, the others in the group’s mirror neurons in the frontal lobes will be able to perceive that someone in the group has experienced something dangerous, so they feel the fear themselves, and signals are sent to their amygdala.

Through the mirror neurons that we all have in our frontal lobes, we have the opportunity to sense on our own bodies what others are feeling. It is a natural ability that everyone has, unless they have shut it down, or if they have been taken from their mother as a baby, or if their mother has been depressed while they were between 3-6 months old, as there is some research suggesting that the ability may not have fully developed. You can certainly achieve success as a specialist or individual performer without much empathy, but at some point, in your career, whether you are a specialist or a leader, you will hit a ceiling if you cannot sense other people. Because it becomes too difficult to get others to follow you and collaborate – it becomes much harder to understand each other.

In coaching, we often work on developing empathy. It’s never too late. The mirror neurons can be reactivated. It just needs training. The worst that can happen is that you get a better life.

I will gladly take a non-binding chat – helping you to explore what’s really important to you. You can reach out here or take a closer look at me as a coach.

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