In a world driven by results, in which the bottom line rules all, empathy has often been seen as a weakness in leaders. “You’re too soft to be a real leader.”
However, this line of thinking appears increasingly old-school. There is a growing view that the best leaders combine IQ (intelligence), EQ (empathy) and AQ (ambiguity). Real, authentic, sustainable growth can be found at the intersection of all three. Or as one member of our network, a C-level exec in the active lifestyle segment, puts it:
“Empathy is the fulcrum to success and is the missing piece in business today.”
But while empathy is increasingly seen as a valuable leadership trait, the way it is displayed varies widely across cultures and geographic regions. Indeed, one study comparing empathy among British and East Asian participants discovered that the British participants reported more empathic concern, but less empathic accuracy, than their East Asian counterparts in response to observing someone suffering social pain.
Clearly, this has big implications for leaders – particularly those working for multinational organisations, or taking jobs in new, unfamiliar countries.
1. The value of empathy in leadership
Far from being a “nice to have”, empathy is extremely beneficial from a leadership perspective.
As we discussed with accredited and internationally active Executive Coach Alexander Meyer auf der Heyde in a recent podcast, empathy gives leaders a more effective executive presence by empowering them to:
- Communicate more effectively;
- Create a followership;
- Motivate and develop people;
- Build stronger relationships.
But that’s not all.
One study found that managers who display more empathy toward direct reports are viewed by their bosses as stronger performers. Another discovered that when upper management fails to show empathy, lower and middle managers exhibit less loyalty to the organisation and are less interested in their work.
However, empathy isn’t a “super-trait”; a silver bullet that, once acquired, will instantly overcome any leadership challenge. Instead, it is one of a range of emotional characteristics that make teams more likely to deliver results.
In 2017, Google published the results of its “Project Aristotle” study, which found that the tech giant’s most important new ideas originated from teams in which members exhibited a variety of skills including:
- Equality
- Generosity
- Curiosity toward others’ ideas
- Empathy
- Emotional intelligence
Those teams may not have comprised Google’s top data scientists, but their members felt confident in voicing their ideas, safe in the knowledge that they would be heard.
2. What does empathy look like across cultures?
Wherever you are in the world, the definition of “empathy” remains the same. But the way it is expressed can vary dramatically from one culture to another. Sameer Nanda, Director at Cognizant, explains:
“[The] stronger the human bonding in a society, [the] more likely that they express empathetic behaviour. On the other hand, cultures that value personal space / independent thoughts more than human bonding are less likely to express empathetic behaviour in a similar situation.”
Attempting to quantify how empathy differs by culture, researchers analysed the largest-ever study on empathy, comprising responses from 104,365 people across 63 countries. They named the countries with the highest empathy scores as:
- Ecuador, South America
- Saudi Arabia, Middle East
- Peru, South America
- Denmark, Northern Europe
- UAE, Middle East
- South Korea, East Asia
- US, North America
- Taiwan, East Asia
- Costa Rica, Central America
- Kuwait, Middle East
3. Why are some countries more empathetic than others?
Study co-author Sara Konrath, Ph.D., of the Research Center for Group Dynamics at the University of Michigan, noted that the results had provoked a lot of discussion. In particular, people were surprised to see two Middle Eastern countries toward the top of the list.
But they shouldn’t have been surprised. As Konrath explained:
“Cultures that tend to be more collectivistic also tend to have higher empathy scores. Collectivism involves seeing oneself as being part of a larger, interconnected group of familial and other close relationships, with a priority on fitting in with others and maintaining harmony. So it’s not surprising that empathy would be higher in such cultures.”
In contrast, cultures that are more individualistic – for instance, the majority of the Western world – tended to score lower on empathy. In an individualistic society, people see themselves as distinct and separate from others, and prioritise showcasing their uniqueness and valuing their self-expression. This can perhaps make it harder to see the commonalities that we share, in turn making us less likely to feel compassionate toward others and put ourselves in their shoes.
4. What does this mean for leaders?
It is one thing to understand that differences exist in the way empathy is expressed in different cultures. But it is quite another to assess and adapt your own approach as a leader to best fit in with that culture – particularly for leaders who regularly work across multiple geographically and culturally disparate locations.
We spoke to senior leaders within our network who have extensive practical experience of working with individuals and teams in different cultures. While their views and experiences are naturally heavily influenced by their own backgrounds, they were unanimous in agreeing that culture has a significant impact on the way empathy is expressed.
South Asian, East Asian and Southern Europe were highlighted as regions in which people display – and expect – a high level of empathy:
“In general, individuals from the Indian subcontinent have high social dependency. This leads to expectation of empathy as well as being empathetic towards others. Sometimes to an extent that this voluntary empathy might be considered by others as an invasion of personal space.”
– Sameer Nanda, Director at Cognizant
“People in the South of Europe are showing (and are expecting) a much higher level of empathy. There is so much emotion in any discussion and decision, it takes a long time to ‘gain the heart’ of the people, to convince people sometimes takes ages with lots of arguments, background information, reflection of thoughts, showing emotions, etc. However, and this is most important, if an agreement is done you can rely on it. There is not that much control needed, more a light observation.”
– Michael Fuerst, Europe Operations Director Packaging
“Working with global partners, the most empathetic teams were from India, Vietnam and smaller European countries. It was always a pleasure to meet, do business with and share a meal. Each of these partners had unique needs and wants, and shared more openly with their hearts and smarts.”
– Steve Harden, CEO / exec from Active Lifestyle segment
In contrast, Eastern Europe and more “Westernised” cultures were typically seen as displaying lower levels of empathy:
“People from the East of Europe are the exact opposite. Empathy is almost not there, emotions are not shown. Staff even prefer a strict order (sometimes it reminds me of my time in the army). Long discussions are not needed, not even expected and preferred. The main problem is that it’s hard to know if the agreement will be followed or not. This means a lot more control is needed. Often staff are only following a certain direction when disciplinary measurements are executed.”
– Michael Fuerst, Europe Operations Director Packaging
“The more Westernised partners [such as the] US, UK, France and Germany relied more heavily on the IQ-driving type.”
– Steve Harden, CEO / exec from Active Lifestyle segment
However, there is more to the discussion than some cultures simply being “more” or “less” empathetic. Rather, definitions of empathy differ from one culture to another. As individuals, we naturally recognise and respond best to our own definitions of empathy – but that doesn’t necessarily mean that people who share our definition are more empathetic:
“Some cultures readily include the world of work in their social perimeter; others keep it outside. This clouds the empathy question. For example, I remember my French colleague being very upset because, when his wife had health issues, his British boss frequently enquired about how she was doing. The French guy was angry that the boss felt that it was appropriate to ask about his domestic circumstances and assumed that it was casting doubt on his ability to manage his professional life without problems! The boss thought that he was showing empathy and support!
“In summary, I believe empathy to be an individual rather than cultural characteristic. However, the ways in which it is communicated differ between cultures. As an Anglo-Saxon, I have found my British and American colleagues to be most empathetic, followed by French… but I don’t suppose that they really are – they just display empathy in a way that I recognise and find comfortable.”
– Peter Lockley, President of Europe, INX International
“My experience taught me that I’m defining empathy slightly differently than a person from Finland or a person from the Philippines or Portugal. Therefore the expectation level is also different. When different cultures talk about such topics, they always think about something slightly different, or sometimes even more than that. In short, people expect more and more empathy but have, depending on their culture, a different understanding.”
– Reinhard Schiebeler, Interim COO for Process Industry
Naturally, to succeed as a leader, you must adapt your approach – and the manner in which you display empathy – to fit in with the culture of teams and individuals that you are leading or negotiating with. Our network offers the following advice:
“Empathic leadership requires two different conditions: The leader must be willing to work with their team on ‘eye level’. In very hierarchical cultures you [are less likely to find] that kind of leader. And the leader has to be open to let others be part of his or her feelings. That will make him/her vulnerable. So I would suggest that only leaders with strong self-confidence, knowing their weaknesses and strengths, can apply empathic leadership.”
– Thomas Kloubert, Global Operations Director from Packaging
“I’ve found after being firmly in the IQ camp for many years, it works for a period. For sustained and meaningful people centric growth, a combination of IQ-EQ-AQ (smarts-heart-grit) is the future, the new normal. Most importantly, it’s how one balances each that makes all the positive difference. Smaller, striving, emerging countries are open to combine the business-personal-life-business matrix more fluidly than larger established push-mindset countries. Definitely something the US, UK, France, Germany and other countries could / should learn from.”
– Steve Harden, CEO / exec from Active Lifestyle segment
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