Right Fit Leading: The Case for Empathy

Two subjects in the last several days reminded me of the importance of empathy. The first was the unfortunate story of the people who were surprised by getting fired on a Zoom call. The second was reading posts about exit interviews and their use.

Empathy was definitely needed in the first instance. It would have been helpful if the CEO was better able to understand and share the feelings of the employees BEFORE making this decision. This should never happen this way! The worst parts for me were his lack of empathy and his empty words to employees. “This is the second time in my career I’m doing this, and I do not want to do this. The last time I did it, I cried.” These words seem to be focused on the CEO, not the people affected.

The second subject was exit interviews. When analyzing the practice of doing exit interviews, it is important to understand the information available in the exit interview is also available long before the employee exits. If leaders and organizations are not getting the relevant information from their team members BEFORE the exit interview, it’s a waste. Good leadership requires regular interaction that can help you understand who wants to stay, who wants to go, who wants more, and who wants something different. That needs to be discussed every week or month, not in the last 2 weeks of employment.

Empathy requires constant interaction that ranges from listening to understanding to sharing information.