Empathic Leaders & Why you Need Them

 

 

Why empathic people are the hidden leaders in your organisation

 

Today, it’s harder than ever to keep a workforce focused, engaged, and performing at its best. So it’s no surprise that there’s a growing number of HR Directors and business leaders exploring how to create a more compassionate culture.

They say they want leaders who are more inclusive, more people-focused. They offer soft skills training to every manager in an attempt to build a more human-centred workplace.

But in reality?

The same organisations continue to promote the same type of people: technical experts with specialist knowledge and years of experience (great!), but who often struggle to tune into others or provide emotional support when it’s most needed (not so great).

These leaders may genuinely want to do better. They put their best efforts into learning new behaviours (asking open questions, active listening, etc.), but no amount of leadership development can change someone’s personality or values. And here’s the truth:

 

You can’t teach someone to care.

 

Which is why I’m proposing an alternative approach: instead of attempting to make all of your managers more empathic, find your empathic people and help them to take the lead.

I’ve worked with countless brilliant, empathic professionals who are already showing up as informal leaders every day.

They’re the ones people turn to in a crisis. The ones who mediate tension. The ones who build trust, and exceptional client relations.

And yet, they are consistently overlooked for formal leadership roles.

You may already be thinking of people you know who are gifted at connecting with, and caring about, others. But they are being held back because their niceness is mistaken for weakness. They don’t feel comfortable self-promoting, and they downplay their own achievements. They’re too busy helping others to highlight their own strengths. And often, despite their desire for career progress, they can’t see themselves as leaders, even though they already are.

This isn’t just frustrating. It’s costly.

These empathic people do need development, but not the kind you find in ordinary leadership programmes. They need support that honours both their emotional depth and their strategic potential. These are the people you need to invest in: they hold the key to a kinder culture, and a more productive one too.

So what if you started developing your empathic people? What if you gave them the bespoke leadership development support they need?

 

Empathy-Powered Leadership®

 

That’s exactly what I do inside Empathy-Powered Leadership® – an evidence-based coaching programme that transforms empathic individuals into courageous impactful leaders.

If you’re ready to talk about that, I’d love to hear from you.

By developing the right people with the right skills, you’ll build a leadership pipeline ready to meet the needs of tomorrow’s workforce.

If this speaks to you, leave a comment below.

 

 

And if you’ve only just found me… Hello! I’m Jess Baker, Chartered Psychologist and founder of Empathy-Powered Leadership®. I transform empathic individuals into courageous, impactful leaders. Their leadership elevates people, drives performance, and strengthens the culture that connects them.