Tyrannical Empathy

There are many qualities that make up a great leader: intelligence, honesty, ability to delegate, communication, confidence, enthusiasm, and flexibility all come to mind. However, one that isn’t as prominent as most is perhaps the one that is most important: empathy.

As a leader, Steve Jobs could be brilliant and inspirational, capable of diving deeply and intelligently into any problem Apple faced. At the same time, he could be impossible, dismissive, condescending, threatening, even abusive. Most workers who were at Apple during Jobs’ early tenure recall that the most concerning thing about him was the fact he exhibited so little empathy. At that point in his life, he was simply unable to put himself into other people’s shoes and his sense of humor was non-existent.

In the workplace, empathy matters. When leaders understand their team, they have a better idea how to tackle the challenges ahead. Empathy allows all team members to feel safe with failures because they know they won’t simply be blamed for them. Empathy also encourages leaders to understand the root cause behind poor performance.

So why do some leaders struggle with displaying empathy? Because it’s hard and it takes continual effort. It means putting the needs of others ahead of your own, something that is a struggle for many leaders. It also means that moving away from the mindset that organizational goals must be achieved regardless of the cost to employees. It’s a shift in mindset that is not easy, but to accomplish goals in a team environment this is work that is worth undertaking.

After Jobs was fired from Apple, he began to realize the importance of understanding the needs of others. He realized that to truly collaborate with people and accomplish the overall goals of the organization, he needed to empathize with them. In other words, he needed to be more human. That’s not to say Jobs wasn’t difficult to work with from time to time – he famously was. However, as he grew as a leader, he began to show empathy to employees in ways he never did before. He began to care about others and rode an insane wave of success that included Pixar, the iPod, and the iPhone.

As Theodore Roosevelt eloquently said, “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” When you truly care about your team and empathize with them with the fervor of a tyrant, they will inspire you by how willing they are to go above what is asked of them. If you don’t empathize with your employees, they will do little more than what is expected and will seek to leave at the first better offer.