Caroline Muss, Dana Tüxen &  Bärbel Fürstenau 

Numerous studies have examined the impact of empathetic leaders in organizations. However, the systematic consolidation and categorization of these effects have not yet been conducted.

This article presents a systematic literature review of 42 academic studies, carefully selected from 5 databases using a rigorous search process, with the aim of developing a concise category system that synthesizes the effects of empathetic leaders in organizations.

After discussing theoretical lenses and our methodological approach, we outline the various understandings of empathy and the measuring instruments used in the analyzed articles. As our main contribution, we then describe nine categories that summarize the effects of empathetic leaders in organizations. These categories consider affect, attitudes, empathy, equity, interpersonal relationships, leadership practice, perception, performance, and well-being.

We further outline the individuals or groups affected by these effects. Finally, we discuss our results and offer future research avenues for the scientific community as well as practical recommendations for three different stakeholders who can shape empathetic leadership in organizations: leaders, human resources (HR) managers, and board members.

Empathy is an important trait not only in fostering social unity, but in helping people feel validated, understood and connected to others who empathize with them, the researchers say. In clinical settings, it plays a critical role in helping people regulate emotions and feel less isolated.

But constantly expressing empathy has its costs.

"Caregivers can experience compassion fatigue," says Ovsyannikova, a U of T Scarborough alumna who has professional experience volunteering as a crisis line responder.

Empathy and communication are critical abilities for nursing students, and in recent years, scenario-based teaching has played a crucial role in fostering empathy and professional skill development.

However, novice nursing students in basic nursing education often lack prior experience in patient communication, making it challenging for them to prepare adequately for scenarios and effectively handle difficulties in real-life situations.

This deficiency also hampers participants’ or observers’ ability to engage in deep reflection, feedback, and learning. Consequently, students frequently experience anxiety in patient communication, and the effectiveness of empathy building remains limited. The aim of the study was to use empathy mapping and mini-simulation in learning to enhance nursing students’ empathy and self-confidence in communication.

.by Scott Hutcheson

This same principle applies to leadership: empathy, applied broadly and consistently, is a cornerstone of healthy and effective leadership. However, leaders often struggle with selective empathy—the tendency to empathize with certain groups while neglecting others—leading to division, distrust, and diminished impact.

Empathy in Ecosystems: Lessons for Leadership
Ecosystems thrive because of their inclusivity. Bees pollinate plants, trees provide habitats, and predators regulate populations—all contributing to the greater whole. If one species were prioritized at the expense of others, the ecosystem would collapse. Similarly, leaders must ensure that empathy extends to all stakeholders, not just those who are familiar, agreeable, or aligned with their values. Inclusive empathy ensures that everyone—employees, partners, and communities—feels valued and engaged, fostering a culture of trust and collaboration.

The Role of Empathy in Workers’ Compensation 

Empathy is not merely a soft skill or a buzzword—it is the bedrock of effective workers’ compensation practices. Injured workers often find themselves navigating a maze of physical pain, emotional distress, and financial uncertainty. For many, their injury is not just a medical event but a life-altering experience that disrupts their identity and sense of purpose. 

By approaching claims with empathy, we create a foundation of trust. This trust is essential for fostering open communication between all parties—workers, employers, healthcare providers, and insurers. When injured workers feel seen and heard, they are more likely to engage actively in their recovery process, leading to better outcomes for everyone involved. 

This study investigates the role of teacher empathy in influencing student mental health outcomes through a comparative Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach. Given the rising prevalence of mental health challenges among students, understanding the impact of empathetic teacher-student relationships is crucial.

Utilising a sample of 300 students from diverse educational settings, the research examines how teacher empathy affects student engagement and mental health. Findings reveal that higher levels of perceived teacher empathy correlate with reduced stress, anxiety, and depression while enhancing student engagement in learning activities.

Furthermore, student engagement mediates the relationship between teacher empathy and mental health outcomes. The results underscore the necessity of fostering empathetic relationships within educational contexts to promote student resilience and well-being. Implications for teacher training programs and academic practices are discussed, emphasizing the importance of empathy in creating supportive learning environments that enhance student mental health and engagement.

Types of empathy at work
Cognitive empathy, for instance, involves understanding another person’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences without necessarily sharing them. It’s about seeing the world through their lens and appreciating their reality.

This sort of empathy might mean recognizing the barriers people with disabilities face, such as inaccessibility to buildings, assumptions about capabilities, or systemic inequities in healthcare. When someone takes the time to learn about SMA, for example, and considers its physical, emotional, and logistical challenges, they practice cognitive empathy. That encourages thoughtful conversations and addresses misconceptions, laying the groundwork for better policies and inclusive practices.

Emotional empathy, meanwhile, takes understanding a step further by involving emotional connection. It consists of feeling what someone else is feeling, be it joy, frustration, or pain.

Living with SMA, I’ve seen how emotional empathy can bridge gaps in understanding. When someone feels my frustration after a long fight for accessible services or shares my excitement when overcoming a challenge, it validates my experiences in a deeply personal way. Emotional empathy creates bonds of solidarity, reminding us that we’re not alone in our struggles or triumphs.

A third empathy, the compassionate type, combines the understanding of cognitive empathy, the connection of emotional empathy, and the added drive to take action. It’s about not just understanding or feeling, but also stepping in to help.

4. Foster A Culture Of Empathy And Open Communication
While the list is endless, fostering a culture of empathy that promotes open communication, continuous feedback and strong career and personal development is foundational to a positive employee experience. This includes promoting work-life balance, providing mental health support and implementing programs that nurture growth to ensure employees feel valued, supported and empowered. - Marcy Klipfel, Businessolver

• Contagious yawning may reflect empathy and nonconscious mimicry in social animals.
• The mirror neuron system is linked to contagious yawning, empathy, and social behaviors.
• Contagious yawning is more common in social species, such as dogs, chimpanzees, and birds.

A new study suggests that encouraging children to empathize with nature could influence their attitudes about the environment. 

BY TERRI HUGGINS 

With the threat of global warming and the debates about its existence growing stronger, many of us lean on the hope that future generations will have the knowledge and kindness needed to preserve our environment. 

But how can we help young people grow up to be guardians of the planet? A recent study found that children who are more empathic toward nature have more positive attitudes about behaviors that protect the environment.

Love your neighbor vs. love the nature
When we think of empathy, we tend to envision the ability to identify specific feelings in someone, often distressing ones, and respond accordingly with caring behavior. The idea of empathy toward humans can also apply to empathy toward nature, which is what researchers looked at in this study. People who feel empathy for nature adopt the perspective of animals in pain, for example, and are more inclined to help them.

I think the trend of cutting oneself off from MAGA individuals plays into the warfare plans of the enemies of Democracy.  And today beyond the fold I want to propose a simple idea on how to relate to MAGA folks.

In addition I’m going to discuss a bit about my plans for building a culture of empathy locally by reaching out to local bay area churches to host Empathy Circle Cafés at their facilities.

Dhruva Koranne

Have you ever felt unheard or misunderstood in a relationship? Imagine sharing your deepest thoughts and emotions with your partner, only to be met with criticism or disinterest. Feels hurtful, isn’t it? Empathy—the ability to understand and respond to the feelings of others—is crucial to building long-term connections and healthy relationships.

A lack of empathy can be detrimental, leaving one or both partners feeling ignored and lonely. This article will explore how a lack of empathy affects relationships while discussing a few ways to cultivate it.

What Does Lack of Empathy Do to Relationships?

In 2024, empathetic AI took a leap forward. Hume.AI gave large language models voices that sound convincingly expressive and a perceptive ear to match. Microsoft’s Copilot got a human voice and an emotionally supportive attitude, while platforms like Character.ai and Psychologist sprouted bots that mimic therapy sessions. These developments are paving the way for a new industry: Empathy-as-a-Service, where emotional connection isn’t just simulated, it’s a product: packaged, scaled, and sold.

This isn’t just about convenience – it’s about influence. Empathy-as-a-Service (EaaS), an entirely hypothetical but now plausible product, could blur the line between genuine connection and algorithmic mimicry, creating systems where simulated care subtly nudges consumer behavior. The stakes? A future where businesses profit from your emotions under the guise of customer experience. And for consumers on the receiving end, that raises some deeply unsettling questions.

by Janelle Cox

How do you teach students to care? Is it even possible? Teaching students to care can feel like a tall order as an educator, but it’s absolutely possible. Developing empathy starts with helping kids become more aware of others’ feelings.

When students learn to express their feelings and understand others’ needs, they can interact better. This helps them avoid unpleasant situations and conflicts.

While teaching empathy might seem challenging, it can be incredibly rewarding. When students feel safe and have the tools to solve conflicts peacefully, your classroom becomes a place of understanding and respect.

by  Prudence Pitter
As our world continues to change rapidly, what remains the same is the need for leaders to be empathetic. While empathy has always been a key trait for a successful leader, it is even more important today with remote and hybrid work environments. Emotional intelligence and empathy were ranked as the most critical elements for a manager in a hybrid work environment, according to a recent Deloitte study. 

People are facing more challenges in their lives today than ever before, and many organizations have leaders with little or no experience leading during difficult times. While no organization is expected to take full responsibility for employees’ lives, those organizations that do prioritize their employees’ well-being reap the benefits of a more engaged, committed, and loyal workforce.  

Here are five ways to be a more empathetic leader: 

1. Be in Tune with Your Own Feelings

by Anisha Vadher

The World Economic Forum (WEF) recently released its Future of Jobs Report 2025, predicting the skills that will be most in demand by the end of the decade. While tech skills like AI and data analysis are high on the list, nestled among them is a surprising contender: empathy. This isn't just a feel-good notion; the WEF backs it up with hard data, recognising empathy as essential for navigating the complex challenges and opportunities of our rapidly changing world.

But why is empathy so important, and how can you cultivate it?

Empathy: More Than Just a Soft Skill

Most psychologists believe empathy has three components: the affective response, or feeling what another person is feeling;

the cognitive response, or understanding what another person is feeling, and the ability to separate oneself from the other person.

In conversation, empathy is often interchanged with compassion, which comes from a Latin word meaning “to suffer with.” No wonder so many of my colleagues and friends in libraries, schools, and social service agencies talk about experiencing compassion fatigue.

They’re literally sharing in the suffering of others, on top of any personal suffering they may be experiencing. But is it possible to experience and express empathy without burn out or isolation?

𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆  - William Ickes and Edwin Rutsch   https://lnkd.in/g9whbjpv

William Ickes is a personality and social psychologist who is known primarily for his research on unstructured dyadic interaction. His first major line of research within this tradition concerns the phenomenon of empathic accuracy. He is the author of  Empathic Accuracy and Everyday Mind Reading: Understanding What Other People Think and Feel. He is the editor of The Social Neuroscience of Empathy.

Edwin Rutsch and William Ickes discuss the concept of empathic accuracy, focusing on how accurately individuals infer others' thoughts and feelings. Ickes explains his research method, which involves recording and analyzing interactions, then having participants infer each other's thoughts and feelings. He highlights that empathic accuracy can be improved through feedback, noting a 10% increase in accuracy with immediate feedback.  They also discuss the potential of empathy circles to enhance empathic skills in various settings, including schools and public spaces.

A New Mexico assisted living and memory care community has launched a pilot program using arts-based training to build critical thinking and emotional intelligence into its staff members while promoting empathy and overall resident well-being.

Retreat Healthcare in Rio Rancho hosted the ART of High-Performance Caregiving training from ESTEAM (Exercise, Science, Technology, Engagement, Arts and Medicine) Health in mid-December. The training is a follow up to a 2023 pilot program launched in the months leading up to Retreat Healthcare being the first assisted living provider in New Mexico to achieve Joint Commission accreditation for assisted living. 

Kathleen Wallace

There is something of a loose, informal social contract inherent to a successful human society, and that is the condition of reciprocal empathy. When one experiences misfortune, others in a healthy society care and assist, despite there being no contractual obligation. Others care when catastrophe falls upon their neighbors. It’s basic empathy, not a complicated interaction.

Yet we have been immersed in a society that simply wants us to feel empathy in one direction, and that is towards those who have ample resources and power but, for whatever reason, have hit a bump in their golden paved road. The empathy our power structures want us to feel is not the kind that extends downward; the narrative is that we should only feel a concern for the already powerful when they face misfortune.

Find out how evidence-based methods can be used to provide empathy training, bringing huge potential benefits for healthcare outcomes and busting the myth that it can’t be taught

by Jeremy Howick

The beauty of empathy lies in how simple yet powerful its basic techniques can be. Three transformative practices take mere seconds:

1. Encourage practitioners to introduce themselves by name – creating an immediate human connection.

2. Have practitioners sit down beside the patient instead of standing up – a small gesture that patients perceive as giving them more time.

3. Encourage practitioners to provide a truthful, positive message of hope, even if it is just: “We are going to do our best to take care of you.”

By Mardoche Sidor, MD and Karen Dubin

Empathy is a powerful and essential component of healthy relationships. It involves the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person, creating a deep emotional connection that fosters trust, compassion, and mutual respect.[2] In this article, we will explore the importance of empathy in relationships, how it contributes to emotional intimacy, and practical ways to cultivate empathetic communication.

Understanding Empathy
Empathy can be broken down into three main components:

Cognitive Empathy: The ability to understand another person's perspective or feelings intellectually. It involves recognizing what someone else is experiencing without necessarily feeling those emotions yourself.[3]

Emotional Empathy: The capacity to share and feel the emotions of others.[4] This type of empathy allows you to connect on a deeper emotional level and respond with compassion.

Compassionate Empathy: This combines cognitive and emotional empathy, where you not only understand and feel what another person is going through but also feel compelled to help or support them in some way.[5]