The Role of Empathy in Leadership: How an EAP Can Enhance Your Skills
July 30, 2025 | Tags:
Empathy is more than a soft skill. The ability to connect with others is fundamental in managing a business of any size and serves as a strategic advantage that can drive success.
Empathetic leaders transform their business: They cultivate trust with employees, customers and clients, boost team collaboration and drive sustainable growth. Utilizing benefits like an employee assistance program (EAP) can transform your approach to empathetic leadership.
Building empathy skills with EAP strategies
Adding an EAP as part of your benefits package can offer the resources you need to be an empathetic leader. These programs are designed to help you develop skills to connect better with your employees and create a supportive workplace.
For example, Peak Performance Coaching offers one on one telephonic sessions from Masters and Ph.D. level certified mentors that cover coaching programs like Effective Communication, Workplace Conflict and Succeeding as a Supervisor. Employees can also use EAP benefits through or outside of their health insurance plan to further support their wellbeing with personal counseling, self-help resources and more.
What it means to be an empathetic leader
Imagine stepping into someone else’s shoes. Being an empathetic leader means having the skills and abilities to envision yourself in their thoughts or feelings to understand what they need. Some traits include:
- Active listening: When you genuinely listen to others, pay close attention and show interest through nonverbal cues, like facing the speaker, making eye contact and asking follow-up questions.
- Open communication: When you’re transparent in verbal and nonverbal communication, encourage dialogue and ensure everyone feels heard and understood.
- Patience: When you take the time to understand that everyone works at their own pace and has their own unique strengths and weaknesses.
- Compassion: When you show kindness and genuine concern for the wellbeing of your employees and team members and are driven to understand and support them.
The benefits of empathic leadership
In fostering a safe space for others to feel heard and proactively solve problems, you create a culture of wellness. This doesn’t just benefit employees but also your business. Happier employees are healthier employees, which empowers them to perform at their best and not only increases productivity but also reduces absenteeism from stress and anxiety related illnesses.
Employees can also navigate the demands of personal, family and work obligations through an improved work-life balance. And by showing your employees you care about their wellbeing, it gives them an incentive to stay. When potential employees consider their next move, a business with a high retention rate looks desirable.
Get started today
ESI Employee Assistance Group, a subsidiary of Medical Mutual, provides a variety of benefits, services and programs to over 3,000 employers and employees nationwide. Each offering is customized to meet the specific needs of small businesses and is available to all employees regardless of enrollment participation
To learn more about the productivity benefits your business can realize with an ESI EAP, call 800-535-4841 or visit www.theEAP.com.