ABSTRACT
Empathy is the ability to understand what others feel and experience (Goleman, 1995; Natale & Sora, 2010). As a critical adjunct to understanding, empathy ties directly to leadership. First and foremost, the application of empathy to the leadership context fosters a new understanding of other persons’ wants and needs, and requires a paradigm shift (Patnaik & Mortensen, 2009). This change calls for a relational understanding of people and requires one to protect their well-being and guide them toward a moral imperative (McIntosh, 2011; Van Lange, 2008). In short, it has the compelling quality of “ought” associated with its implementation. Fundamentally, empathy becomes demanded and not optional. Within the empathic paradigm shift, the leader has a visceral understanding of the human dynamic as encapsulated within the organization. Empathy is essentially constrained by the value-based structure that preexists within the organization.
