August 2025 | Episode 005

In 2025 and beyond, the leaders who exercise empathy will be the ones who lead well.

Let’s be honest: when we talk about empathy at work, some leaders hesitate. Not because they don’t care, but because the concept can feel abstract or overly personal.

According to the 2024 State of Workplace Empathy Report, 55% of CEOs think they lead with empathy, but only 28% of employees and 22% of HR professionals agree.

So why the gap?

Because empathy is misunderstood. It’s often mistaken for sympathy, oversharing, or therapy. But in reality, empathy is an untapped leadership advantage, a tool for gathering information, building trust, and strengthening performance across your team.

Leadership without empathy isn’t sustainable.

When leaders skip empathy, they miss out on critical insights. What follows? Misunderstandings, poor retention, burnout, and a culture where people withhold instead of contribute.

A review of 42 empirical studies found that empathetic leadership significantly improves employee engagement and reduces turnover. And Gallup’s 2025 State of the Global Workplace report paints an urgent picture:

79% of employees are disengaged
Global engagement declined for the first time in four years
Managers saw the sharpest drop in both engagement and wellbeing

Empathy isn’t about absorbing everyone’s feelings.

It’s about understanding what’s true for others, not agreeing, fixing, or internalizing.

Empathy looks like:

Listening with presence
Asking perspective-seeking questions
Being curious, not corrective
Balancing individual needs with team performance
Modeling healthy boundaries and emotional regulation

It’s both rigorous and relational.

Three ways to lead with empathy, and help your team build theirs:

Define it together.

Empathy gets lost when it stays vague. Create a shared, behaviour-based definition that aligns with your culture.

Try it: Ask your team, “What does empathy in action look like here?” Capture their real responses, and return to them often.

Loop for understanding

Active listening is more than nodding, it’s confirming you actually get it. A technique called looping for understanding (popularized by Charles Duhigg in his book Super Communicators) helps clarify, deepen, and build trust in every conversation.

Try this 3-step process:
- Pause and repeat back what you heard in your own words.
- Ask a curious question, and maybe even another.
- Check for accuracy: “Did I get that right?” If not, loop again with more curiosity.

This shows the speaker you’re truly listening, not just waiting to respond.

Be a container, not a commentator

When someone shares a challenge, don’t rush to relate or fix it. Empathy is presence, not performance.

Try it: Say, “That sounds tough, what kind of support would be helpful?” Then stop talking and listen.

Bite-Sized Wisdom for Big Impact from Our Coaches

Want help creating an empathy protocol for your team or organization?

At McLaughlin Mentoring, we help leaders and teams build emotional intelligence that lasts. Our workshops and trainings focus on core EI competencies, like empathy, self-awareness, optimism, and independence, skills proven to reduce burnout and increase engagement.

Ready to build a healthier, more connected workplace?

Let’s talk about how we can support your team »

Yours in optimism,
Jillian & Team
McLaughlin Mentoring Inc.

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