The Empathy advantage

We found employees now rate empathy as the most essential skill they want to see more of from their leaders. They’re now shouting it from the rooftops; they want leaders who truly understand them and connect with them. So, what lessons can we learn from the leaders that are using the power of empathy to transform people’s performance, engagement, and wellbeing? It all makes for a powerful high-performance culture. Too many organisations are missing out on upping this key leadership skill, leading instead to disengaged employees, important voices not being confident enough to speak up during challenges, and ultimately stifled collaboration and innovation. We’ve crunched the behaviour data with some fascinating results.

Woman leading and presenting in a conference
Effective team communication
Breaking the bias

Women tend to score higher on 12 of 16 leadership competencies and yet there’s such a gap in their representation at the top. With women far more likely to demonstrate People-Focused skills among those competencies, we’ll be exploring how historical stereotypes might mute the potential of everyone who tends to show up with these traits in areas like selection, teamwork, and promotion. On the flipside, we’ll also look at how traditional male leadership styles – often associated with being overly competitive, logical and tough – might need a more cautious approach. Being Outcome-Focused is important, but just because it’s perceived as the winning approach, doesn’t mean it always is when it’s overplayed.

Inclusivity sparks performance

What lessons can we learn from the leaders that are using the power of empathy to transform people’s performance, engagement, and wellbeing? Across the hour, we’ll map out the diverse set of qualities needed for leaders to thrive at the top and bring out the best in their organisation’s talent. We’ll make the case for placing greater emphasis on empathy in leadership selection and development, with a practical discussion that will flip the stereotypes on their head. Being PeopleFocused needs to be valued and celebrated in a more balanced way. Because outdated stereotypes are hurting the promotions, business performance and the confidence for everyone who wants to act on these strengths at work. 

Meet the Presenters

Meet the Panellists