Empathy – if you could rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most empathetic, how would you rate yourself?  Looking at the same scale, how would you rate your manager? How would you rate your senior leadership team?

Empathetic Leadership is a term that comes up often in business articles. Many organizations are stating that empathy in the workplace is more important than ever.

Catalyst states, “empathy is a must-have in today’s workplace.”

This study of nearly 900 employees working across industries by Catalyst found empathy has some significant constructive effects:

· Engagement. 76% of people who experienced empathy from their leaders reported they were engaged compared with only 32% who experienced less empathy.

·  Innovation. When people reported their leaders were empathetic, they were more likely to report they were able to be innovative—61% of employees compared to only 13% of employees with less empathetic leaders.

· Retention. 57% of white women and 62% of women of color said they never or rarely think of leaving their companies when they felt their life circumstances were respected and valued by their companies.

· Inclusivity. 50% of people with empathetic leaders reported their workplace was inclusive, compared with only 17% of those with less empathetic leadership.

Empathy is an area of focus that often comes up with my coaching clients. There are ways to reframe to help strengthen your empathetic response.

If “PEOPLE” is one of your company’s core values, empathy should be a professional development area of focus, especially for emerging leaders.

While empathy may not have been recognized as a top leadership trait in the past, times change. It's certainly an important trait moving forward.

Here's a great article by Catalyst: The Power of Empathy in Times of Crisis and Beyond