Empathy in a Crisis (Part 1)

Touchy-feely nonsense or a professional skill?

Part 1: Nobody likes bad news!

One of the most unpleasant duties of any manager is having to deliver bad news to employees in difficult times: people have to be laid off, products recalled, sites closed, much-loved perks withdrawn. The list of potential hardships is a long one.

Many of these announcements have tangible, sometimes even devastating consequences for the lives of those affected. And yet – there is no point beating around the bush – many CEOs and senior executives fail to show the necessary empathy in the way they communicate. Even the most crushing news is delivered to employees, customers or affected local residents in appalling management jargon: convoluted, technocratic and cold.

But what exactly is empathy? Put simply, empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and understand how they feel.

Feelings? Really? You can almost picture some managers curling their lips at the very thought. But don’t panic: nobody expects a business leader to wallow in feelings, let alone allow emotions to dictate their decisions. Quite the opposite. If a doctor spent sleepless nights worrying about every cancer patient, they would not last long in the profession. They would have to find another career.

Empathy, in fact, has very little to do with your own feelings. At its core, empathy is simply a professional skill – one that belongs in every manager’s toolkit. It is a tool that CEOs and senior executives need to master just as much as supply management or accounting. A doctor faces much the same situation when a patient bursts into tears. Who could blame them for putting on a sympathetic expression while simultaneously wondering what on earth is wrong with their golf swing?

A lack of empathy, however, has far more serious consequences than a few offended employees, angry consumer advocates or outraged shareholders. What exactly are those consequences? We’ll explore them in part two of our blog series on “Empathy in a Crisis”, which you can read here next week.