Conscious Empathy

“𝙇𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙙𝙙 𝙪𝙥 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣.”

DR. SIGAL BARSADE

Employee emotional well-being is a priority for those looking for a new job. Survey data showed it among the top 3 of employee concerns.

Resources provided to workers need to include more than just job aids or a list of duties. Millions of employees have made it very clear that in order to commit to an organization, companies must provide a supportive work environment with caring managers where individuals can thrive.

Emotionally dismissive language is harmful as it tries to avoid or minimize pain, yet silences the person and their feelings as well.

Some leaders have modeled and verbalized their intolerance to employee emotional expression at work.

Avoidant or inattentive language includes:

– 𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙋𝙝𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜
– 𝙈𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣
– 𝙉𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣
– 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙎𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨
– 𝙏𝙤𝙭𝙞𝙘 𝙋𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙮

Such perspectives are non-productive; they attempt to negate or “fix” someone or a situation. Not only do they fail, they may create ill will and distrust between supervisors and co-workers.

Research conducted by Chiang et al. (2020) showed that authoritarian leaders who create an environment where it is not safe to share emotions harm more than one person.

In fact, leaders that enable such work climates and norms – through rules, controlling, humiliation, and other reductions of psychological safety – lead to employee emotional exhaustion – a precursor to burnout.

On a collective level, this spreads to all team members and limits open communication, increases negative or emotional conflicts, and reduces overall team performance.

Conversely, emotionally intelligent and empathetic leaders create a sense of belonging because their behaviors allow team members to be seen and heard.