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There is a growing consensus that empathy is the essential underpinning of leadership. Empathy is defined as the ability to understand, identify with and share the feelings of other people.

It is a personal quality that enables people to show caring, kindness, tenderness and compassion towards others in different situations.

Empathy for leaders is a fundamental part of positive people management.
Research shows that if you want to get along with people, it’s best to be empathetic.

Poor leadership has several causes but one of them is a lack of emotional intelligence (EQ) which is an integral part of being empathetic. It is therefore a fact that empathy can be an antidote to poor leadership in any organisation.

Being able to relate to and understand people is the best way to show compassion, patience and understanding. This is very important for you as a leader because it gives you a deep understanding of the people within and outside your circle of influence and it would hugely help you in making better decisions since empathy helps you to understand how someone feels.

Now that we have established the importance of being an empathetic leader, how then do you become intentional in showing empathy even as you design other strategic plans to increase the output or the capacity of your organisation or ministry?

The truth is there are many ways to show either your team or people around you that you care, feel their pain and want the best for them. However, let us consider the following five(5) attributes.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
As it was slightly mentioned in one of the paragraphs above, Emotional intelligence is an integral part of empathy. It incorporates not only your ability to recognize the emotions of others but to also identify and control your emotions in response to the pains of others.

Emotional intelligence allows you to practice empathy and compassion without letting negative emotion get the better part of you – a huge boundary that is necessary for empathetic leadership.

COMPASSION
Compassion is your desire to act on your empathy to relieve the pain, suffering, and emotional instability of others. Think of empathy as an act of data-gathering, while compassion is a positive response in the path of processing what you have gathered and learned about the situations of people around you.

SENSITIVITY
A whole lot of times, people go through tough times and they would not want to talk about them even when this is telling on their mode and manner of handling tasks. It will take a sensitive leader to sense and understand the unspoken words in a time like this and this would not only make such a person feel valued but loved at the same time. Consequently, they will open up and adjust to receiving your love, advice, and corrections.

FLEXIBILITY
Being able to quickly and compassionately evaluate the emotional needs of others and adapt without being judgmental is a virtue of flexibility that any empathetic leader must intentionally imbibe.
Empathetic leaders never stray from their quality leadership values and beliefs yet genuinely values the opinions of others and consider them when making decisions.

APPROACHABLE
Leadership has over time been explained not to be about the position or ability of anyone to make frightening orders. An empathetic leader is approachable though not without respect or some courtesy, but sometimes multiple walls around some leaders have made it almost impossible for their team to reach them not to talk of being open for people to discuss their challenges.

As an empathetic leader, you must understand that when people feel comfortable being around you. This will spur them to share their concerns and communicate flaws without the fear of negative chastisement. Your effectiveness in leadership is more related to being someone your team can approach for guidance and help.

Empathy is a core trait of an effective leader. Empathic leaders are attuned to their own experiences and feelings, yet they also extend that same sense of care to the feelings of others.

This leadership quality allows leaders to recognize how situations can impact different members of their teams in different ways. With this awareness, empathic leaders are more likely to be attentive to the big picture to take the steps necessary to foster positive relationships between team members and boost their productivity.