How important is empathy to being an effective leader?

Hey everyone.

So this is my first warwick blog post. Hope this sets at least some of you thinking. So today's exercise (as a part of the Leadership & Excellence module in WMG) had us all trying to define what leadership is. To me, this was an opportunity to look into myself and examine what the term really means to me and then to reconcile my view with those of my team-members'. I hit upon (do forgive the expression) something interesting while doing this.

The question of empathy and how it is important to a leader. The definitions we were looking at concerned leadership that set and achieved goals, that garnered support and inspired performance over and above simple compliance from a group. That motivated a group to reach their goals and monitored their progress. None of the definitions explained how this might be done. By being an effective leader? Well, who is an effective leader?

Well I have some questions to pose. Is an effective leader emphatetic? Is it not important to understand those who are being led? To understand what each team-member is capable of and to unearth capabilities within them that might be latent/dormant. Does an effective leader empower one being led to find what they truly love, to develop themselves while contributing to the goals and aims of the team all this while? According to me, the answer is yes. I also believe that self-development can become a powerful incentive to the people in the team. Who wouldn't love to work for (with?) someone who will help you improve yourself?

That is all i have to share for now. I invite any comments and/or feedback.

Abram Kakkozha : 12 Feb 2014 00:28 |  Tags: Leadership Leadership & Excellence |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem