Latest / Daily Influence / 513. Empathy and Influence: The Missing Link in Leadership Effectiveness

Transcript

513. Empathy and Influence: The Missing Link in Leadership Effectiveness · Daily Influence

• 0:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the daily influence where our mission is to deliver a daily dose of positive influence that can uplift you personally or be shared within your sphere of influence.
• 0:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: While not every episode may directly apply to your unique circumstances, we strive to provide insights and inspiration relevant to most people's daily, weekly, and monthly lives.
• 0:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: Whether you are tuning in during the morning, noon or night, the daily influence is here for you.
• 0:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Listen, share, and embrace the power of influence in your life.
• 0:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Hey, everybody Brian Smith here with the I team series and your daily influence and today we're going to be talking about a different kind of influence that we have and it's a very supportive influence we can have as individuals especially as leaders and that's empathy and I've talked about empathy in the past and
• 1:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: how important empathy is.
• 1:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: And empathy is for acts as the gateway to authentic influence and true influence in our world starts with understanding understanding ourselves, understanding those around us.
• 1:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: And we can have empathy for ourselves in the situations we place ourselves into.
• 1:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: And we can obviously have empathy for the people around us.
• 1:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: Especially in those times when they need it, when leaders practice empathy by actively listening, acknowledging emotions and validating people's experiences, we build trust in our areas of influence.
• 1:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's really what makes us leaders as when people trust us.
• 1:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: And the trust becomes the foundation of that authentic influence that we have on those around us.
• 1:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it allows us as leaders to guide
• 1:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: behavior to inspire action and to create alignment without relying on authority or fear.
• 2:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: In empathy is not soft, a lot of people think of empathy as a motion that's, you know, rainbows and butterflies and weakness and things like that, but it's not.
• 2:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's actually strategic.
• 2:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: I almost feel bad talking about empathy as a strategic practice because I wonder if you think of it that way, I challenge myself, are you being real, is your empathy real?
• 2:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: And yes,
• 2:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: It can be.
• 2:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you practice empathy, if the tactic of being empathetic is your strategy and you practice it, you will become more and more empathetic in a true way.
• 2:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: And a lot of people just don't understand what that means.
• 2:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: Practicing that listening, practicing, building that trust, practicing acknowledgement and understanding
• 2:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: is hard.
• 2:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's hard in a lot of different situations, but it's not just a field good concept.
• 2:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: It directly impacts team outcomes.
• 3:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: It has influence on your team in situations when they meet at the most, when they need to push through the issues they're facing.
• 3:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: Empathetic leaders reduce workplace stress by giving people a safe space where they trust the environment that they're in.
• 3:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: They trust the people that they're around.
• 3:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: It gives our teams increased psychological safety, which is important in culture development, team development and individual development.
• 3:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it also improves communication flow because when people trust they communicate and when they communicate they get more done and they do it better together.
• 3:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: These conditions foster collaboration and innovation when we collaborate we innovate better.
• 3:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: We work with our teams better.
• 3:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: We come up with better ideas.
• 3:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: We have somebody who's a sounding board that we can lean into and trust.
• 3:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: It makes our teams more resilient, adaptable, and ultimately in the end, more productive.
• 4:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Influence grows when people feel seen and heard.
• 4:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: Leaders grow when their teams feel seen and heard.
• 4:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's a very important distinction that we oftentimes lose.
• 4:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: when we're working in our leadership roles.
• 4:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: Empathy is not a soft skill.
• 4:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's an active, tactic and strategy that you can apply.
• 4:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's something that you can learn if you struggle with it.
• 4:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: It just takes listening, caring about what's going on with your team, hearing what's going on and supporting them through whatever it is that challenges them.
• 4:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I really appreciate you joining us on the daily influence today.
• 4:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Exploring empathy is a common thing for us here, but it isn't just a leadership trait.
• 4:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's a catalyst for meaningful, sustainable influence.
• 4:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: If today's message resonated with you, share the episode with someone who could use a reminder of the power of empathy and leadership and remember your influence matters.
• 5:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Whether seen or unseen, until next time, stay intentional,
• 5:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: Stay kind and keep being the eye in your team.
• 5:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Have a good day.