PURPOSE | LEADERSHIP
Empathetic leadership is nothing new , but in the wake of Covid-19 , it has taken on fresh significance – and the benefits to business are compelling
WRITTEN BY : KATE BIRCH
While nobody would argue the Covid- 19 pandemic was anything but terrible , we can say some things changed for the better when it comes to work . The necessity to work from home , for example , has delivered more balance and flexibility for employees . While pandemicinduced employee burnout has made mental health support a workplace issue .
Challenges like this are where an empathetic leader can truly thrive . Cheryl Fields Tyler , founder and CEO of California-based Blue Beyond Consulting , a management consulting firm that works with mainly Fortune 500 firms , says the pandemic thrust all of us into situations where we were suddenly in each other ’ s lives in ways we had never been before .
“ One day life was comparatively normal and the next we were going through this profound experience together – overwhelming loss of life , the deaths of George Floyd and others who put the harsh reality of racial injustice front and centre , the grit and suffering of frontline workers who extended themselves on behalf of society , and many others who struggled to balance remote work with childcare , mental health issues , layoffs , and so on .”
The pandemic and calls for corporate accountability for racial inequalities ushered in a new era of empathy , in which business itself must play a central role in prioritising the physical and emotional wellbeing of all stakeholders – from employees to customers to suppliers – as well as the communities in which they operate . businesschief . com 51