Influence of Empathetic Leadership on Employee Behaviour: An Exploration

Abstract

Business operations have become extremely challenging in the present VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity) world. Effective leadership can lead business organizations to operate successfully in complex and challenging business scenarios. The traditional command and control approach is inadequate to deal with the constant changes within and outside the organization especially in emerging starts-ups which deal with innovative business model. The contemporary business operations demand a more sensitive, resilient, and responsive leadership approach to manage dynamic and complex organizational Issues. Employees are highly influenced by the leadership; hence empathetic leadership might be an effective approach to developing productive and engaging employees in such organizations. An empathetic leader is aware of and understands the need of the employees and is responsive towards the constraints and challenges her/his team members face. Empathetic leadership develops positive workplace culture, which fosters better collaboration, innovation, and high engagement levels, better work-life balance, which transform them into highly satisfied and productive employees. Empathetic leaders nurture better communication, develop trust that help motivate employees towards achieving organizational objectives. This article explores how empathetic leadership develops satisfied and productive employees in contemporary start-ups.