5 Tips for Showing Empathy

Cathie Leimbach • January 25, 2024

Human beings are emotional beings. At work as well as in our personal lives, it is important that we feel respected and noticed as a valuable human being. People feel most valued at work when they have a trusting and supportive relationship with their supervisor and their team members. This includes feeling empathy from others.

Whenever people are troubled, hurting, or dealing with serious problems, they want to feel that others understand what they are going through and are concerned for them. When we show interest and support for a colleague who is facing a tough situation, we are showing empathy. Yet, many find it uncomfortable to reach out to others when they are experiencing difficulties.

Keven Eikenberry offers 5 tips to increase one’s ability to show others that we are concerned for them and wish to understand their situation and their feelings.

  • Lean In – Get close to the person by spending time together or verbally acknowledging you are aware of their tough situation and care about them.
  • Listen – Ask how they are doing or how you could help them, and fully listen to their response. What are their words telling you about their situation? What feelings are they expressing? What is their tone of voice, volume, or talking speed telling you?
  • Look – Focus your eyes on the other person. What are the facial expressions and other body language telling you about their current challenge and how it is impacting them?
  • Let Go – Let go of your ideas about how they could handle their current situation. Don’t take over the sharing time, not even to share details of your similar experience and how you handled it. Help them feel heard. Focus completely on understanding them and their current reality. 
  • Learn – Really learn how the other person feels and how they are responding to their situation. Learn more about them as a person.

Ask questions to show you are interested in learning more. Ask how you could help them.

Once you have used these 5 tips of empathy, the other person will likely feel that you care. If, and only if, their words, tone, and body language show that you have good rapport, you could tell them in one sentence that you have experienced something similar and ask them if they would like you to share what helped you get through it. If they say no, then don’t share. The purpose of your conversation is to show empathy - help them see that you care about them, not for them to listen to you.

Who in your life is going through a tough time just now? When could you support them with the gift of empathy so they know someone cares about them?

Build Thinkers, Not Followers

By Cathie Leimbach • September 2, 2026
Many leaders don't set out to become the answer to every question. It happens gradually. Someone asks their leader how to do it because it's faster than figuring it out. Another employee waits because they don't want to make the wrong decision. Before long, you're answering questions your team should be able to answer on their own. The good news is that you don't have to be the answer to every question. You can build a team that thinks, solves problems, and takes ownership without you giving up appropriate control. Here are a few places to start: Ask Before You Answer When someone brings you a problem, don't start by giving them the solution. Instead, ask:  What do you think? What options have you considered? What would you do if I wasn't here? People grow when they think through problems—not when someone else thinks for them. Let Small Decisions Stay Small. Not every decision needs your approval. Look for low-risk opportunities where employees or supervisors can tell the employee to make the call themselves. Confidence grows with experience. Praise Initiative, Even When It's Imperfect. If people believe they'll be criticized every time they make a decision, they'll stop making them. When someone takes ownership, recognize their initiative. Coaching them to make a better decision is easier in the long run than making every decision yourself. Notice the Questions That Keep Coming Back. If you're answering the same questions week after week, don't just answer them faster. Ask why they're still being asked. The issue may not be your people. It may be an unclear expectation, an inconsistent process, lack of training, or a conversation that never happened. Helping people think for themselves doesn't happen in one meeting. It happens through dozens of everyday collaborative conversations that gradually build confidence, judgment, and ownership. Conversation is Where Leadership Happens™ You don't have to figure it all out alone. Bring your workplace people challenges to the FREE Workplace Conversations Clinic September 21. Join Cathie Leimbach and other leaders for a practical conversation about the people challenges you're facing—and leave with fresh perspectives you can put to work. Register HERE

When the Boss "Bosses People Around"

By Cathie Leimbach • August 25, 2026
This probably isn't the company you imagined building. You wanted a team that solved problems, took ownership, and helped move the business forward. Instead, somewhere along the way, you became the person who answers every question, makes every decision, and tells everyone what to do. The interruptions never end. Every day starts with a plan and ends with another list of problems that somehow became yours to solve. You work harder than ever yet still feel like you're falling behind. Another good employee resigns. Another supervisor struggles. Another improvement initiative loses momentum. You leave work mentally exhausted, wondering why everyone seems busy—but so little actually changes. Your employees feel it, too. When people learn that every decision runs through the boss, they eventually stop making decisions of their own. When leaders spend most of their time directing every task, correcting every mistake, and solving every problem, people gradually stop thinking for themselves. They become cautious instead of confident. They stop offering ideas because they're not sure anyone wants to hear them. Ownership fades. Enthusiasm disappears. The culture slowly shifts from people wanting to contribute to people simply trying to get through the day. Ironically, the more a boss has to boss people around, the less ownership employees take. Before long, leaders become firefighters instead of business builders. Instead of building the company they envisioned, they're simply trying to survive another week. The surprising news is that this cycle usually isn't caused by a lack of effort. The frustrating part is that working harder rarely fixes it. In fact, the harder many leaders push, the more dependent their people become. What feels like the solution often becomes part of the problem. Talking through your leadership challenges with others can be helpful. Ask questions of your network. Get some ideas online. Sometimes another perspective helps you see what your organizational chart or production reports don't. Conversation is Where Leadership Happens™ You don't have to figure it all out alone. Bring your workplace people challenges to the FREE Workplace Conversations Clinic September 21. Join Cathie Leimbach and other leaders for a practical conversation about the people challenges you're facing—and leave with fresh perspectives you can put to work. Register Here