Leading With Empathy To Create Inclusive Work Environments

Written by: Vanina Pitsch, Executive Contributor

Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.

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In honor of Canadian Mental Health Week, this article will focus on the topic of empathy and how it can help create inclusive work environments.

In the last few years organizations have put a lot of effort into designing and deploying diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to create inclusive work environments and an engaged and impact-driven workforce.

While this is critical, I truly believe that it takes the effort of everyone in the workplace to ensure that team members and colleagues/peers feel valued, appreciated, and respected when collaborating together.

Having worked in the corporate world for nearly a decade, I believe that empathy is the core competency that will help create an inclusive work environment if it is embraced by all employees and integrated into their way of being and doing (working).

Empathy has also been rated as the most important leadership skill according to research done by Forbes. And yes, empathy can be acquired over time as long as the conscious effort is being put into cultivating an empathetic mindset.

What does empathy look like?

When we speak about empathy, it is important to realize that there are multiple ways to showcase empathy. There is a cognitive way and an emotional way. The cognitive way helps you understand where others are coming from and the emotional way helps you feel what others are feeling.

As an empathetic leader, you can:

• Put yourself in other people’s shoes

• Relate to someone else’s emotions

• See the other person’s perspective

• Meet the other person where they are at

But how does that translate into a specific behaviour and how can you act in a more empathetic way? Here are three tips for you to consider when you are interacting with your team members at work.

• Check-in with the people you are working with For example, you can ask how someone is doing before you start discussing any work-related projects

• Implement empathetic strategies in meetings For example, you can ask everyone’s opinion when discussing a particular subject and acknowledge their contribution

• Seek to understand where people are coming from For example, you can ask to follow up or clarify questions to obtain more information and avoid making any assumptions

Lastly, I would like to leave you with a list of guiding questions to support you in becoming more empathetic:

• How would I feel if I were in someone else’s shoes?

• How can I make someone else feel heard?

• How can I seek to understand the information that is being shared with me?

• How can I create a connection with another person?

To conclude, empathy can be cultivated and integrated into your personal and professional life as long as you make a conscious effort of showing up and practicing it regularly.

If you are looking for some support in taking the first step towards becoming more empathetic or if you would like to collaborate on a corporate project, you can book your free clarity call with me via this link.

Yours truly,

Vanina Pitsch

For more information, visit this website and her social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

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Vanina Pitsch, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine

Vanina Pitsch is a leadership development manager, mindset coach, and mindfulness facilitator. She is the founder of GloWell Coaching - a coaching and mindfulness company aimed at bringing empathy and mindfulness into organizations and supporting professionals in their career and life so they can evolve to their next-level selves.

Certified as a Personal and Professional Coach (PPCC) from Concordia University, she offers a variety of different coaching packages and organizes online wellness events as well as urban wellness retreats to professionals and organizations.

She believes in the power of the mind, leadership development, creating inclusive work environments, and teaching others to take care of their well-being. So they can serve from a place of wholeness and be in alignment of their soul’s purpose.