Member-only story
Empathy with Authority
A Powerful Leadership Trait
Being a technology and people manager, deadlines, deliverables, and the well-being of our team members is always on our plates. Recently, I attended a program at work. The invite was extended to all the managers and leaders. It was really a wonderful experience that taught many important lessons: but for me the key take away was Empathy with Authority.
In reality, this is far from easy. During the program, I realized that most of the things we already do as managers, while some requires balance, intention, and deep knowledge of emotions.
Understanding emotions is the first step to practicing empathy. Emotions are not obstacles to productivity, they are integral to it. By understanding what drives a team member’s behavior, where they come from, we can address root causes instead of just symptoms.
Empathy calls for one to understand and validate the feelings of the team members, but managers have to ensure that work is done. For example, once I had a member of the team who was facing personal issues that were affecting their performance. I wanted to give them space and time, but project deadlines were looming. It was quite a challenge to find ways to support them without compromising the team’s goals.
