Henry Ford once said, “If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as from your own.”
Ford was a revolutionary in many ways, but his empathetic leadership style was undoubtedly before its time. He was a “people person,” well-known for the loyalty he inspired in his workforce and the high productivity that came as a result.
While Ford’s approach may have been a rarity in the early 1900s, today’s visionaries are making empathy the cornerstone of their leadership models. Take Jacinda Ardern, for example, the prime minister of New Zealand whose party won re-election in a rare landslide victory last autumn. For Ardern, empathy is a key aspect of leadership that in no way reduces her efficacy.
This article was originally published on HubSpot.
