Leading with Empathy

Understanding the Needs of Today’s Workforce

Wiley, 2021

15 min read

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You can learn to be have more empathy – the newest critical business skill.

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In the wake of COVID-19 and the massive damage it inflicted, author Gautham Pallapa offers a soothing prescription for healing. At this very appropriate time for empathy and kindness, he casts a wide net, offering wisdom and insight that can benefit anyone, including and especially workplace leaders. Though some people are born with greater empathetic capacity than others, Pallapa believes empathy is a skill you can develop through practice and attentiveness. Empathy, a crucial business attribute, may also be society’s ace in the hole on a long road to recovery.

Summary

Positives exist amid the COVID-19 pandemic’s devastation.

The COVID-19 pandemic’s economic, political and social repercussions changed the lives of countless millions of people worldwide. The pandemic affected roughly half of the 3.3 billion people in the global workforce. And in the United States, more than 26 million adults said they were unable to feed their families properly in 2020.

Fear, anxiety, isolation, depression and loneliness have increased dramatically since COVID-19 emerged in early 2020. Finding positive news amid the adversity is difficult, but if you look through an optimistic lens, you’ll notice these encouraging developments.

Vaccine innovations – Scientists in various fields worked frantically to develop effective immunotherapies while bypassing the customary extended testing periods. They produced several vaccines to combat COVID-19.
Sturdier relationships – Social distancing and lockdowns gave people the opportunity to spend quality time together. Communication between parents and children improved. Author Gautham Pallapa reports that he happily spent more than 900 ...

About the Author

Gautham Pallapa, PhD, the founder of Transformity and an executive adviser at VMware, follows the mantra “Transform with Empathy.”

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