Consulting Psychology Journal, Vol 76(2), Jun 2024, 113-136; doi:10.1037/cpb0000273
This article provides an empirical examination of the popular belief that empathy has become more important to leadership since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Three research questions were addressed using data for over 5,000 U.S.-based managers and executives in for-profit businesses rated between January 2019 and September 30, 2022. The questions concerned changes since 2019 in the prevalence of observed empathetic behavior, including the possibility of leaders demonstrating too much empathy, and the effects of leader empathy on leader effectiveness, employee engagement, and team and business-unit productivity. The results were consistent with claims that empathy has become more important, particularly in terms of a stronger relationship with employee engagement since the onset of the pandemic. The costs of too much empathy in terms of reduced engagement were also less severe since the pandemic. The relationship between leader empathy and productivity also changed: Less empathetic leaders drove productivity higher in the prepandemic sample but have undermined productivity since the 1st year of the pandemic. Also since that 1st year, leaders who were excessively empathetic undermined productivity as well and to a greater degree than leaders who lacked empathy. The pattern of results points to an increasingly difficult balancing act for empathetic leaders in optimizing both organizational culture and business results. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)