Empathy at the helm: Rethinking what it means to lead

Empathy at the helm: rethinking what it means to lead

Written by Sara Hope

What kind of words spring to mind for you when you think about leading and managing people? And why is it important for organisations to give attention to this?

We’ve been immersing ourselves in developing a human-centred approach to leadership with 60 leaders and their sponsors at Boots UK, Boots Opticians, Walgreens Boots Alliance over the past couple of weeks.

The kind of words that have come up have included empathy, inclusion, emotions, motivation, engagement, psychological safety, well-being, and nature.

When leaders show up as humans first, when they are curious, compassionate, and able to hold meaningful conversations, everything shifts: engagement deepens, performance improves, and inclusion becomes lived, not just stated.

The time we’ve spent at Boots has been a real privilege.

Appreciating and understanding the complexities that come from working within large corporate environments. Acknowledging the value of collectively slowing down to notice, deepen our awareness, and truly listen to one another.

And perhaps most of all?

To reconnect with the power and potential that each one of us holds through our conversations.

PS. To read more about our work in the space of Human-Centred Leadership, including a case study from Emily Davies MCIPD at Boots, click here.

Get in touch to have a chat about how we can help your people develop their conversational wisdom