Do it with feeling

Why empathy is vital, not a corporate buzzword

The term ‘empathy is a superpower’ is repeated so often it can feel performative and disingenuous.

But, if we strip away the cliche there is a fundamental truth that’s useful for working in communications and leadership. 

In particular how we centre an understanding of how people feel and how our actions change those feelings.

Think, Feel, Do, key communication outcomes

Think, feel, do are treated as equal pillars of effective communication, we always should be trying to make a change in one of these. 

But treating them as equals is a mistake. I’m not sure we can ever really influence someone to ‘think’ differently, or ‘do’ a specific action, unless we’ve done something to address the ‘feel’ first. 

Emotion isn’t a peer to logic, it’s the gateway to it. 

This false equality exists because of a data trap. It’s incredibly easy to check an audience’s knowledge or see their behaviour. But it is much more difficult to understand how they feel. 

So we prioritise the things we can measure easily: reach, interaction, awareness. Even if feeling is what drives them. 

After all, we’re not Vulcans, with our decisions driven by logic and knowledge. We’re driven by emotion, to the degree that often what we feel overrides what we know. 

So often the best communications strategy will focus on first understanding how our audiences feel now, and how we want our messages to make them feel next. And go on to ‘think’ and ‘do’ after that. 

It’s worth emphasising that this isn’t about manipulation, spin or toxic positivity. But about engaging with people on the level that drives action: how they feel. 

At heart, the storytelling we do as communicators isn’t really about the sharing of facts, but the transmission of a point of view: it’s prompting empathy.

Leading with feelings 

In many ways, good leadership is based on the same principle. 

Adequate leadership, is transactional, it’s sharing what colleagues need to do, by when. Here’s a set of KPIs, here’s an update from the latest exec team meeting, etc. 

Great leadership by contrast is transformational. It inspires people to feel the work matters. It’s responding to how your colleagues feel, offering support, comfort and sometimes challenge to help them navigate the emotions a workplace creates.

Being able to understand how your colleagues are feeling, and what can change that is an absolute necessity for leaders. 

This is where strategic communications and exceptional leadership collide. A truly valuable internal communications function doesn’t just broadcast messages; it serves as a sensor, enabling leaders to listen to, understand, and respect the “feeling” of the organisation.

How do we centre empathy across communications and leadership? 

How do we make this work across our organisations:

• We start by recognising and reflecting on our own emotions and how they drive how we work and how we show up. 
• We keep asking ourselves the question how will this message make XXX feel – moving beyond the question: is this message accurate and does the language meet our style guide. And then change and adapt the message / behaviour if you need to. 
• Commit to the hard metrics: We must invest the time and resources to measure emotional sentiment and long-term behavioral impact, rather than just immediate engagement.

This is difficult, it takes time, resource and is uncomfortable at times. But if we don’t do it, I don’t think we’ll ever realise our ambition that PR becomes a truly strategic function. 

All of this also applies to how you are as a leader. Yes, our job is to help the organisation ‘get things done’.

But that is only possible and sustainable if we do it in a way that recognises and responds to our impact on how others feel. 

So actually for leaders, empathy is a superpower.