Our Building Better Managers research identified that employees care about having an empathetic manager, but only half reported having a manager who was fair and empathetic.

All is not lost. Empathy is a skill, and like any other skill, it can be developed. So what might that process involve?

In this episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Loren Sanders joins Ross G and Gemma to discuss:

• the difference empathy makes
• developing self-awareness to develop empathy
• tact as the expression of empathy.

You can find out more about Loren and her book Empathy is Not A Weakness and Other Stories from the Edge at loren365.com.

Ross referred to Self-awareness and empathy that Ross referred to : Whiteside, D. B., & Barclay, L. J. (2016). The face of fairness: Self-awareness as a means to promote fairness among managers with low empathy. Journal of Business Ethics, 137(4), 721-730

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross recommended C.J Cooke's gothic thriller A Haunting in the Arctic.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit  our website mindtools-kineo.com. There, you'll find out how we can help your organization build AI skills, and how our Skills Practice scenarios help build human skills.

Connect with our speakers

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Loren Sanders
• Ross Garner
• Gemma Towersey