Growing the Ambassadors of Love

​What does it really mean to create an empathic organisational culture?

Empathy is more than having the ability to imagine yourself in someone else’ position, it is being able to interpret what they are feeling, and to mirror their emotions; growing empathy requires deep consideration about how the other person or group of people may be experiencing their world, and experiencing this, emotionally, as if you were actually living their experience. For those who are naturally empathic, this capacity for authentic human connection may be viewed as a blessing or a curse, depending on whether what is felt is absorbed into being, or simply noticed, experienced and then let go; being an empath can be draining if not managed well, while healthy empathy is a strong facilitator for emotional healing, healthy relationships and positive communication. For those who struggle to be empathic, learning about what it means to be empathic, how to grow an empathic organisational culture and the behaviours that can be adapted and developed to foster an empathic culture will serve to make a positive difference. However, for a person to experience true empathy, and exhibit this capacity, what is needed is to, first of all, be able to connect authentically with the self; with how you are, and what you are feeling and to accept whatever is present. Only when we can accept ourselves can we truly accept others and be with them in their emotional realm.  In a world where people are increasingly disconnected from themselves and each other, the process of re-connection may be a challenge, but when the journey through the inner work is embraced, it is one of the most beautiful processes a person can go through, indeed it opens the door to greater love.


What does an empathic organisation look like? A 2016 report by the World Economic Forum looked across highly empathetic companies to identify common practices of high empathy organizations. They learnt that:

• They care about their cultures: In the most empathetic organizations, constructive behaviours are highlighted and rewarded, and employee value is appreciated.
• They insist on transparency: Companies scoring high on the empathy index recognise that full disclosure enables the opportunity to address challenges and engage their workforce in productive solutions-focused processes.
• Their social media practices reflect strong empathy: Research has shown that executives with social CEOs say their CEOs’ social media presence makes them feel inspired (52%), technologically advanced (46%), and proud (41%). Sociability shows that a leader is listening, open to engaging in two-way dialogue with stakeholders, and comfortable with change. A recent analysis by Weber Shandwick found that 80% of the chief executive officers of the world’s largest 50 companies were engaged online and on social media.
• They see customer complaints as opportunities for insight: Highly empathetic organizations recognize that even the most extreme negative feedback represents an emotional response from the customer and provides an opportunity for insight into the customer experience.
• They make ethics a priority: Organizations scoring high on the empathy index also prioritize ethics. In the words of the World Economic Forum (2016), they need someone asking “should we” instead of “can we”.
• They connect at a human level: Customers want to know where you came from and what drives your passion. This helps people understand the human element; why you do what you do.

The Benefits: The value of growing an empathic workplace culture is that it allows for the feeling of trust and connection to develop, a valuable part of human social interaction, with diverse benefits ranging from enhancing cooperation (Rumble, Van Lange, & Parks, 2009) and increasing the likelihood of helping behaviour (Davis, 1996), to fostering desirable sales behaviours (Anaza, Inyand, & Saavedra, 2018), influencing more effective leadership (Rahman & Castelli, 2013), and driving productivity, retention and motivation (Business Solver, 2019); in their survey of 1,000 employees from a variety of businesses, the researchers (Business Solver, 2019) found that:

• 75% of those surveyed believe organizations with higher degrees of empathy have more motivated employees
• 69% believe empathetic organizations have more productive employees.
• CEOs in the survey overwhelmingly believed that empathy contributed to the financial performance of their organization.
• Across all job levels in the survey, more than 90% of employees indicated they were more likely to stay with an empathetic employer – even being willing to trade off-hours and pay in favour of increased empathy

Growing an empathic workplace culture

• Identify your ‘Ambassadors of love’, those individuals with a strong capacity for empathy and who naturally exhibit heart-centred behaviour and communication styles, and invite them to become conscious collaborators in driving the co-creation of an empathic organisational culture.
• Define the values and behaviours that reflect an empathic culture (Kindness, trust, honesty, fairness, acceptance, authenticity, transparency, effective communication skills etc).
• Identify how these values will be integrated, and what specific behaviours reflect the embedding of these values?
• Challenge behaviours that are misaligned with these values and behaviour expectations, implement consequences when necessary, and highlight and reward the positive behaviours.
• Develop ARE relationships: Be ACCESSIBLE. Be RESPONSIVE. Be ENGAGED. When your team and direct reports know you are there for them, providing support in personal and work-based situations, especially during times of high pressure or crisis, this feeling of security fosters trust. When you show interest in the people you work with, and demonstrate genuine care, responding to concerns and worries, or new ideas and possibilities with thoughtfulness, consideration and compassion, this builds positive connections.
• Be a safe person: a safe person listens without criticism or judgment, accepts the feelings of another, does not blame or shame, considers what is being said, does not react or lose control of their emotions, is fair, kind, and compassionate.
• Build trust – trust grows through authenticity, reliability, dependability, integrity, confidentiality, responsibility, fairness, kindness, transparency, authenticity and being ethical.
• Be accepting – even when you do not agree with how someone feels about a situation or event, even if you do not like them, or find something about them disagreeable, choosing to accept a person for who they are, and where they are at, serves to end conflict and foster peace.
• Be informed about diversity and inclusion: understand cultural norms, the impact of mental health-related problems, and the challenges of gender diversity, because it is through understanding that we cultivate acceptance and compassion.  
• Highlight employee value: it is not uncommon for some of the most valued employees to have no idea of how much they are valued, and in some cases move on to another organisation that does exhibit employee value. When people feel valued and are shown they are valued, this builds loyalty, trust and productivity.
• Learn from negative feedback: when people see that you have heard negative feedback and thought about what you can do to improve on the issue raised, you become someone people trust to continue being open and honest with, which facilitates growth and provides an opportunity for early intervention when problems arise.
• Really listen: when you are fully present and someone is able to feel heard, they are more likely to feel understood, accepted, cared for, and valued.

The inner work: Choosing to learn to connect with who you are is fundamental in learning to become more empathic. Connection with your core self, where all that you are; your feelings and emotions and your deep inner world is recognised, accepted and embraced. Only with this connection and acceptance is it possible to develop true empathy; we need to be able to feel what we feel and accept it, to be able to sense what others may be feeling and accept it. Some have this natural ability, and for others, developing empathy is a process that needs to be learnt or re-learnt, if the challenges and traumas of life have led to a disconnect with who you are. This is not a one-time workshop process, and it is not something that happens quickly, it is a process of emergence and unfolding, and sometimes of emotional and psychological healing, that needs to be nurtured with time, practice, reflection, conscious motivation, and empathic focused action. It is perhaps one of the most beautiful, empowering and rewarding personal growth processes anyone can go through.

Initiating connection: The process begins with an invitation to connect with yourself, through the breath, through mindful awareness of how you are thinking and feeling, and to sit with what is, with whatever arises. Doing this requires making time to stop, move into stillness, let go of the day’s work and racing thoughts, and become present in the moment. This can be done alone or guided and supported by a therapist or well-being coach. It may require effort to initiate this process, and if you want to, and you choose to embrace it, the effort will soon move towards the desire for more time to be present and connected because, in this place, there is peace.

Creating psychological safety: For people to feel able to connect with who they are, and each other, to authentically be present and experience or express the true feeling and sentiment, the crucial factor is feeling safe, and being in a safe space. When people feel safe and able to connect with who they are and how they feel, they become capable of true empathy. For those who have experienced trauma, feeling safe with the self may not feel possible, and so it is important to be mindful of this and not force or guide people into places they are not ready to connect with until safety has been established. When I run corporate empathy workshops, I invite people to this process if they choose to, and I highlight that for anyone that does not feel comfortable with the process, without having to disclose anything and in a space of full acceptance from all participants in the room, (having initially created a space of acceptance and non-judgement at the start)  they may leave the room for the exercise, or they may sit quietly and begin to address any behaviour changes that can be made to help foster empathy within an organisation.

​Co-creating an empathic organisational culture requires a willingness to embrace change and often considerable change across the board. It needs key people to drive the change; those with the power to influence, model and facilitate behavioural change towards empathy and living in alignment with the values of the heart. I like to see these influencers as the ‘Ambassadors of peace and love’; people of strong hearts and minds striving to bring about a potentially revolutionary change in the way we live and work with each other. Who are your ambassadors, how are they already driving empathy and what would happen if co-creating an empathic organisation became their conscious mission and purpose?


Article by Antonia Behan
Coaching Psychologist BSc MSc MBPsS MICF PCC
Empowering adults and adolescents to live from the heart
antonia@antoniabehan.com
www.antoniabehan.com


References
 
Anaza, N. A., Inyang, A. E., & Saavedra, J. L. (2018). Empathy and affect in B2B salesperson performance. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 33(1), 29-41.
Business Solver (2019). State of workplace empathy. https://www.businessolver.com/resources/businessolver-empathy-monitor, accessed October 30, 2019.
Davis, M.H. (1996).  Empathy: A social psychological approach. Routledge: New York.
Rahman, W. A., & Castelli, P. A. (2013). The impact of empathy on leadership effectiveness among business leaders in the United States and Malaysia, International Journal of Economics Business and Management Studies, 2(3), 83-97.
Rumble, A. C., Van Lange, P. A. and Parks, C. D. (2010), The benefits of empathy: When empathy may sustain cooperation in social dilemmas. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol., 40: 856-866. doi:10.1002/ejsp.659