A leaders’ ability to empathize is one of their most essential abilities, but they are frequently overlooked. Having empathy means understanding and being sensitive to the feelings, thoughts, and actions of another person. Empathetic leaders take a genuine interest in their team members’ lives, their challenges, and their overall feelings. Team members feel valued and respected for their personal and professional worth when they interact with them. When companies foster an environment of empathy, employees feel safe and cared for within the organization, which in turn creates a sense of trust and belonging.

Here are a few ways in which you can foster an empathetic trait into your leadership style:

Develop a personal relationship with your team:

The ability to empathize with others is all about understanding the emotions they are feeling. Developing a personal bond with each team member can help managers become more empathetic toward their team. It can help you gain insight into how your team members express their emotions, and it can also show them that you care about them individually and not just how they perform on the job. If you wish to form a personal bond with your team, a good place to start is to become a better listener. Communicate with your colleagues. By putting in this small effort, you will lay the foundation for truly powerful relationships to develop.

Understand different perspectives:

If you want to know what the sentiment of your business is, try to understand where people are coming from. It’s okay if you don’t agree with what they’re saying – but you must recognize that other perspectives have their place. It is common for business leaders to assume that their ideas are shared throughout the company. However, this is not the case. A failure to listen to employees and customers will usually result in poor business decisions and disengaged stakeholders at all levels.

Recognize success:

Taking the time to acknowledge an employee’s good work is a great way to show empathy and ensure they feel appreciated and respected. Recognition can be given for employee achievements, reaching milestones, or increasing efficiency. To recognize their success, honor their contributions by implementing the best employee award, arrange a personal meeting to congratulate them on their work performance, recommend them for a promotion or give them a monthly bonus.

Empathy is an incredibly underrated but crucial quality for leaders to possess. Certain individuals naturally excel at it, and those individuals will benefit from it. However, empathy can be learned. An empathic leader makes employees feel like they have a sense of purpose, improves the workplace atmosphere, creates happier and healthier employees, improves retention rates, increases productivity, and so much more. In other words, if your company has not already implemented empathy into its leadership, it is time to do so. Doing so will make your company more successful in almost every way.