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In an ideal world, every CEO would be gifted with a C-suite of people who are terrific by any measure—a team that consistently drives performance, delivers results, and contributes positively to a culture that wins by bringing out the best in its people. However, sometimes even highly accomplished C-suite leaders, individuals who were carefully selected, exhaustively recruited, and even have an impressive previous track record, really struggle in their roles.

When you find yourself in a situation in which one of your most senior executives is not quite hitting the mark, what do you do? How do you, as the leader who is ultimately accountable for the person’s performance and results, maneuver the reality in a way that is eyes-wide-open, responsive, and courageous, yet also decent and kind?

I’m an optimist by nature, so I believe that most senior business executives want to do right by their fellow humans. It is an optimism that’s well-supported by what I see daily as an executive coach and teamwork facilitator. Because most senior executives are good humans at their core, the situation I describe above can be exceedingly painful for the big boss who must decide what to do about a fellow overachiever who is now struggling. Yet there is an imperative to push through the reluctance, deal with the matter head-on, and take constructive action.

No matter how much it hurts the heart of the top leader, for a business to achieve and sustain competitive advantage, strugglers, poor fits, and underperformers—particularly highly paid ones—must be proactively supported back to success or, in the worst-case scenario, replaced.

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Go All In

When one of your senior leaders is struggling, failing to hit their goals, or causing disruptive problems with other valuable people in the organization, the first thing to do is simply to acknowledge it to yourself. It can be tempting to ignore signs of struggle in the hope that things will resolve on their own, or in telling yourself it’s not a big deal. The temptation is even stronger if you really like the person, or conversely if you really dislike the idea of a confrontation. Yet if you ignore what you see, you risk negative downstream implications like missed business goals, disengaged fellow leaders, and even lost talent.

Once you resolve to believe your own eyes, then it’s time for a thoughtful and heartfelt yet very direct conversation, one in which you seek to do what renowned self-help author Steven R. Covey argues across his body of work: “Seek first to understand then to be understood.” Prepare for a conversation in which there is a low risk that you come off as condescending or bossy. You don’t want to convey that you have passed judgment or that you’re put off or disappointed.

You want to convey genuine, empathetic interest. The idea is to bring your objective curiosity to the conversation. Seek to discover what is going on with the individual on as deep a level as possible. Are they concerned about the business’s direction? Is an element of strategy gnawing at them? Are they bored? Are they experiencing difficulties on the home front?

Get Curious

The way to get an honest take on topics like these is to get into a neutral frame of mind, one that assumes positive intent, and then gently ask open-ended questions like these:

  • What’s something going well for you right now, both at work and at home?
  • What are some areas where you feel you’re struggling?
  • How are you doing relative to what you’ve committed to do/signed up to deliver?
  • If you could wave a magic wand and alter one thing about your work right now, what would it be?
  • What’s keeping you up at night?

Notice the absence of the word “why” in these questions. Questions that begin with why certainly have their place in the leadership lexicon, but in these moments, they land like cross-examination and have a way of activating defenses.

For the record, asking such questions is not manipulation. Newer clients of mine often ask me if utilizing these kinds of questions risks coming off to others as playing head games. Yet with practice, my clients inevitably discover that, if posed with genuine curiosity and neutral intent, such questions cultivate connection and produce understanding. They honor the fact that the leader is not only an accomplished professional with pride, aspirations, and a sense of conscientiousness but also a human with blind spots, limitations, down periods, and fears—and undoubtedly a complicated life happening outside of work.

“When one of your senior leaders is struggling, failing to hit their goals, or causing disruptive problems with other valuable people in the organization, the first thing to do is simply to acknowledge it to yourself. ”

Certified Executive Coach

Senior Executive Contributor

Shane Kinkennon

– Shane Kinkennon

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Formulate a Plan

Once the truth is uncovered, and the individual has owned that they are in fact struggling, then you can facilitate clarity and candor on the gap that you see between the business’s expectations and the reality of the person’s current contributions. A simple table can help. Here’s one I have seen used to great effect:

Observed leadership performance or behavioral challengeDesired replacement behavior or resultSigns of incremental effort the business expects to see between today and future sustained successTarget date for change to be firmly established
1.
2.
3.

Filling out this form collaboratively with the leader in question and getting it to a state that you both can agree to and accept may take time and multiple conversations. Stay with it. Once you’ve done so, what you will have created is a mutually agreed-to plan of attack, a roadmap that signals that the business believes in the rich potential and capacity of its top leaders, and the people who work for it can count on both the support they need and the unfettered accountability that a performance culture requires.

Follow Up and Follow Through

As a next step, you can facilitate the person’s commitment to the plan while simultaneously showing them that you believe in them and are in their corner. Once again, open-ended questions are a simple but effective tool. Consider ones along these lines:

  • What will commitment to these changes look like for you in daily action?
  • How will you go about making this change journey a primary focus?
  • How might you talk about this with others?
  • What allies would be happy to support you?
  • To whom will you be accountable?
  • What role can I play as a supporter, accountability partner, and/or cheerleader?

Don’t leave the interaction without a high level of confidence that your fellow executive understands exactly what you expect of them going forward and is committed to putting in the effort that will be necessary to achieve or return to a high level of contribution.

Of course, it’s possible that the struggling fellow executive simply won’t, or can’t, admit that something is afoot. Or they might place blame elsewhere rather than accept accountability. Or perhaps in their heart of hearts, they simply don’t or no longer have it in them. In such a situation, if you’ve really done all that you can to communicate that you believe in them and are on their side, then it may be a sign that the employment arrangement simply is no longer the right one for the business or the individual.

When Separation Is the Answer, Don’t Delay

Even if you take all the right steps to engage and support an executive leader who is undershooting expectations, the sad fact is that sometimes people simply don’t work out. Or they stop working out as well as they once did. It happens, even with very accomplished people.

When it has become clear that a fellow leader is not working out, and every option to support and encourage their improvement has been exhausted, it is essential that you decide to make a change. And importantly, that you act swiftly and surely.

There are a couple of compelling reasons for urgency. The first is captured in this quote by author Perry Belcher: “Nothing will kill a great employee faster than watching you tolerate a bad one.” If you can see that one of your executives is underperforming or otherwise is not a fit, you can be certain that others can see it as well. Your people watching what the leader “gets away with,” in their view, reflects poorly on you as the supervisor who tolerates it.

Most top performers are loathe to share space with mediocrity on a sustained basis. The longer you let an underperformer or mismatch get by, the greater the risk that their peers and the people who work for them will start to phone it in. By contrast, when you deal with missing the mark head-on, the people in your organization see that you are dead serious about situating the team and the business to win.

The second reason is about treating the separated individual in a manner that is distinctly humane. If you know someone is not or no longer a match, yet you keep them around anyway in a situation that does not bring out their best, you effectively deny them access to other opportunities for which they may be a better fit. You think you’re doing them a favor by saving them from income disruption, yet you may be denying them a different kind of riches. In the end, you do your fellow leader no favors by joining them to pretend there is no problem.

If you’ve decided that the leader’s separation is inevitable, then deal with it. Act now. Free them to go be inspired and find success and fulfillment elsewhere.

In the early days of the pandemic, empathy and empathetic leadership emerged as the premier topics of conversation in corporate America. As businesses shut their doors and employees began working from home, leaders understandably searched for answers to the big question: How do I keep my business operational while taking into account the unique and deeply personal challenges employees are facing?

As an organizational psychologist and empathy researcher, I was excited to see the term make its way into the mainstream workplace vocabulary, but there was still a learning curve as business leaders began to incorporate empathy into their organizations. In my work with executives across the country, I’ve encountered the same four myths about empathetic leadership that, if left unchecked, have the potential to seriously harm a business. Here are a few ways to mitigate that risk.

1.  ‘Empathetic Leadership Results in a Lack of Leadership.’

This myth is probably the most damaging of the four we’ll cover because it can limit how much empathy a leader ultimately shows their team. Typically, those who hold this belief fundamentally misunderstand empathetic leadership. They assume that leading with empathy means there is no clear structure within an organization and that everyone is so busy talking about their feelings all the time that hardly any work gets done—but this couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, a recent survey found the exact opposite: empathetic leadership is actually linked with higher levels of productivity.

A lack of leadership often goes hand-in-hand with a lack of accountability across a team—from the executive board to entry-level associates. So how do you solve this? Ironically enough, by empathizing with employees and taking on a holistic approach to problem-solving. When people know their needs will be met with compassion and understanding, they’re much more likely to ask clarifying questions or take ownership of their part in an unsuccessful venture. If you’re concerned about a lack of clear, strong leadership in your organization, start by incorporating more empathy, not less.

2. ‘We Have to Have Similar Experiences to Empathize.’

Many people assume, both inside and outside of the workplace, that we can’t empathize with others unless we’ve experienced similar circumstances ourselves. However, empathy is about understanding the emotional experience of a situation, not necessarily relating to the situation itself. In her 2018 book, Dare to Lead, Brené Brown summarizes it perfectly: “Empathy is not connecting to an experience. Empathy is connecting to the emotions that underpin the experience.” When confronted with a situation you think you can’t relate to, pause and ask yourself, “Have I ever experienced the emotion this situation is evoking for this other person?”

Let’s use conversations around DEI as a real-world example. These conversations can be polarizing, but they don’t need to be. When someone feels uncomfortable hearing about another person’s lived experience that’s different from their own, they might respond with, “Well that’s not my experience.” Responding this way can be hurtful to the individual, who will likely feel dismissed and unheard. This can translate to feeling largely unsupported by the organization itself, which could elicit a number of consequences such as disconnected teams and interpersonal conflicts.

I’ll say it again: Relatability doesn’t matter when it comes to empathizing. So let’s go back to our DEI example. Let’s assume during a company-wide training, someone is brave enough to share that they’ve been the target of microaggressions on several occasions since joining the organization. Even if you’ve never experienced microaggressions yourself, you can still understand why it would be traumatic for someone. Ask yourself: Have you ever felt belittled, condescended to or stereotyped based on certain aspects of your identity? If the answer is yes, then you can empathize.

“In my work with executives across the country, I’ve encountered the same four myths about empathetic leadership that, if left unchecked, have the potential to seriously harm a business.”

CEO & Founder of RK Empathy

Senior Executive Contributor

Payal Beri

– Payal Beri

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3. ‘Empathy Isn’t a Teachable Skill.’

Considering empathy is a “soft skill,” it’s understandable why some might assume that we either feel empathy or we don’t, as if there’s nothing we can do to change our intrinsic emotional response. But like any skill, it’s possible to get better with practice.

But how exactly do you “practice” empathy? You ask questions until you understand. If one of your employees tells you about a problem that’s impacting them and/or their ability to carry out their duties, start by asking questions such as, “Can you tell me more about that?” or, “How does this make you feel?” or “Is there anything I can do to support you?” From there, you can begin working on a solution.

It’s important to train ourselves to open up when we’re in uncomfortable situations instead of shutting down. If we give ourselves time to ask difficult questions, we can improve our empathy skills one issue at a time. But don’t get me wrong—there will be some growing pains. You will probably never fully understand every single situation, but over time, as you connect with a variety of emotional experiences, you’ll find it gets easier and easier.

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4. ‘Empathy is Empathy—There’s Only One Type.’ 

This last myth is pretty easy to debunk considering the amount of research available on the three distinct types of empathy, but let’s dig into these distinctions and consider how each type of empathy can be useful in different professional situations.

The first type of empathy is cognitive empathy, or intellectually understanding what someone is going through but not experiencing those feelings yourself. Cognitive empathy is an excellent tool when you need to keep some emotional distance from a situation, such as when entering a negotiation. In these situations, you might hear someone say something like, “I understand you feel this way.” Granted, it’s not the warmest or fuzziest type of empathy but there’s definitely a time and place for it in your business.

The next is emotional empathy, sometimes known as parallel empathy, or when we sense and take on someone else’s emotions. Imagine for a moment that you’re a mentor to an up-and-comer in your field. You support them as they prepare to pitch a potential client, but ultimately, your mentee doesn’t close the deal. Afterward, your mentee is upset and a little embarrassed to have lost such a monumental opportunity, and although their loss doesn’t impact your business or career, you feel the same sadness and embarrassment your mentee is feeling. Emotional empathy can be an excellent tool when it comes to things like team building, but make sure you have firm boundaries in place or you might end up carrying every emotion as your own, which can leave you feeling exhausted and unproductive. 

Finally, there’s compassionate empathy, also known as reactive empathy, which I consider to be the highest level of empathy. Compassionate empathy makes you want to spring into action and provide tangible solutions to the problem at hand. Of course, if you lack boundaries and start trying to solve everyone’s problems, this type of empathy could present some issues. But in most cases, this is the kind of empathy you should strive for in your organization.

When one of your team members is faced with an issue, you’ll want to go beyond simply acknowledging their experience (cognitive empathy) in order to embrace those emotions as your own (emotional empathy) and actually provide tangible support as best you can (compassionate empathy). Your organization will almost certainly be better for it.

More and more, senior leaders are enlisting experts from outside their organization to help them address the issues they’re facing, which can be an excellent approach for resolving the problems plaguing your company—the operative word here being “can.” 

Bringing in a third party that specializes in the roadblocks you keep running into, or one who has spent years refining the type of workshop your team would benefit from, can bring new insights and fresh perspectives. But before you hand over the reins and take a seat in the audience, there are a few steps you can take to increase the odds that the workshop is a success and the lessons learned stick with your team for the long term. 

The fact is: organizational development coaches aren’t fairy godmothers, no matter what anyone tells you, and in order for any workshop or program to be successful, there is some important work you’ll need to do before you even begin your search for a workshop facilitator. As a leadership development consultant, there are 3 tasks I recommend every leader should check off their to-do list before they schedule an organizational development workshop for their team.

Ask Yourself the Hard Questions

In my first meeting with every one of my clients, I ask them a question along the lines of, “Why can’t you fix the problem yourself?” This might seem kind of harsh, but hear me out. Most of the time this question takes them by surprise. It makes the client sit back and pause for a moment. Why do they need my help? Why can’t they solve this issue on their own?

Let me be clear: there are no wrong answers to this question. Anything from “I’m conflict-averse” to “I don’t feel equipped to lead this discussion” is a perfectly valid response, but having an answer to this question will give your facilitator a clearer understanding of why you’ve brought them in as well as the outcomes you expect them to produce.

Depending on the client’s answer to this question, we might discover that they are, in fact, in need of a facilitator to lead their team through the exercise—or we might discover that the client actually is capable of fixing the problem on their own and that they’re more in need of a consultant, someone to walk through their solution with an outsider’s point of view before the client takes it back to their team.

Answering this question honestly—to yourself first and only then to any development coach you may hire—will allow you to dig deeper into the issue, giving you the opportunity to actually solve the issue rather than simply smooth surface tension.

“The fact is: organizational development coaches aren’t fairy godmothers, no matter what anyone tells you, and in order for any workshop or program to be successful, there is some important work you’ll need to do before you even begin your search for a workshop facilitator.”

Principal Leadership Consultant

Senior Executive Contributor

Mylena Sutton

– Mylena Sutton

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Get the Whole Team Involved

One of the primary issues I and others in my field run into is resistance from team members. Depending on what we’re solving for, some people might not think it’s much of an issue, while others might be actively contributing to the problem and are therefore unaware of the issue entirely. When the majority of the team thinks a workshop is a waste of time before we even begin, we’re not going to get very far. 

In my experience, the most effective solution is to ask the team what their perspective on the problem is before the workshop even begins. How does the issue impact their ability to do their job? What potential solutions do they see? When people feel involved in the problem-solving process, they’re much more likely to engage in implementing the solution.

As with most instances of resistance, what I encounter from a given team member is typically rooted in fear of the unknown. When we don’t know what to expect, people may be understandably anxious, and that anxiety might in turn manifest as resistance. Sidestep this problem entirely by addressing any potential fears head-on.

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Go With Your Gut

In an ideal world, you’ll have built professional relationships with consultants and coaches before you have a need for them and should be able to pull in others you already know and trust when you’re faced with an issue. But if that isn’t the case, and you’re researching and interviewing facilitators for the first time, I strongly recommend following your instincts and only hiring someone you like and respect. Even if someone is considered “the best,” if you aren’t able to connect with them, it’s better you go your separate ways. Otherwise, you’ll question every suggestion they make, their solutions won’t stick and your team won’t benefit from the workshop.

That said, be aware of affinity bias. It’s common to find comfort in those we share commonalities with but comfort doesn’t usually produce unique solutions. And if the person you decide to hire isn’t able to bring unique solutions, then what are you paying them for? At the end of the day, your own intuition is usually your best resource: trust your instincts and hire the person you trust implicitly. 

You’ve Got This

Dealing with breakdowns in communication or addressing how to cultivate an intentional culture can be sensitive topics and therefore produce a lot of anxiety, for both you and your team, but you don’t have to address them alone. Finding the right consultant or coach to lead your organizational development workshop can produce incredible results—but only if you do your share of the work first.

The ego has gotten a bad rap as of late, especially when it comes to business. You’ve probably heard a boss or a manager say some variation of the phrase “check your ego at the door,” and there are some who have even gone so far as to say that “ego is the enemy of good leadership.” These days, empathy has taken center stage, and with good reason. As organizations are still reeling from the effects of the Great Reshuffle and many workers call for their employers to be more human, empathy is having a moment.

As an organizational psychologist and empathy researcher, I don’t disagree with the heart of these arguments. It should be every leader’s worst nightmare to be described as an “egomaniac” who is unable or uninterested in hearing constructive feedback. But does that mean ego has no place in your business? Based on the years I’ve spent designing and developing leadership programs for global brands, I would argue that some ego is necessary to be the best leader you can be and run a successful business. Let me explain.

What Is the ‘Ego’ Anyway?

In the simplest terms, “ego” means “I” or “the self.” When we say someone “has a big ego,” we mean that they think too highly of themselves, or they’re too focused on themselves and not enough on those around them. But the ego isn’t necessarily a villain.

I often tell my clients to think of the ego like a bouncer at a club. If the ego had a job description its No. 1 responsibility would be to protect us from pain and embarrassment, which is a good thing, but it’s also the source of the ego’s bad reputation. Important leadership traits like self-awareness and being open to constructive criticism can be uncomfortable, painful and embarrassing. In these scenarios, it’s important that you’re able to recognize your ego and tell it to take lunch so you can actually absorb this feedback and grow as an individual and as a business leader.

But let’s consider an example of how our egos work to protect us can ultimately be a good thing. Take Jennifer Lopez’s recent documentary, Halftime. In the film, JLo discusses the onslaught of criticism she’s faced throughout her career, about her looks, her voice, her personality and so much more. Had she internalized all that feedback and given all of it the same weight, she wouldn’t be the actor, singer or performer she is today. Thanks to the ego, JLo was able to cut through the noise and apply the feedback that could actually help her grow—and ignore the rest.

The ego helps us draw those necessary boundaries so that we don’t take on every opinion or emotion as if they were our own, which can be a good thing. Your ego encourages you to trust yourself, your experiences and your instincts, even when others disagree. Your ego ensures that the empathy you show others is balanced with compassion for yourself because you’re worthy of care and respect, too. The ego isn’t empathy’s archnemesis, it’s empathy’s powerful sidekick.

“Finding the balance between empathy and ego is the key to exceptional leadership.”

CEO & Founder of RK Empathy

Senior Executive Contributor

Payal Beri

– Payal Beri

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Compassion for Self, Empathy for Others

Finding the balance between empathy and ego is the key to exceptional leadership. It can’t be all ego all the time, just like it can’t be all empathy all the time. Striking the right balance will look different for each leader, each organization and each situation, but let’s consider an example of what this balance looks like in action.

In May 2020, Airbnb made the difficult decision to lay off a significant portion of its workforce as the company struggled in the early days of the pandemic. Ego is inherent in any decision to cut ties with workers: You, the leader, are making a decision to move the company forward, despite the negative impact that decision may have on the livelihood of many colleagues.

But rather than make the announcement over a Zoom call and wash his hands of it (all ego), Airbnb’s CEO Brian Chesky wrote an open letter that clearly walked employees through the decision-making process before he outlined the generous severance package each employee will receive (ego and empathy). Chesky and the Airbnb team had to make a tough call, but by balancing that call with empathy, I would bet that Airbnb was able to maintain positive relationships with those employees—and potentially gained some loyal customers in the process.

Senior Executive DEI Think Tank is a criteria-based membership community for chief diversity officers and senior-level DEI leaders at large organizations to share difference-making tactics, trade valuable resources, and seek the counsel of experienced peers in a private, confidential setting.

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Empathy Is a Superpower

In order to achieve your goals, both for your business and your career, you’ll have to strike the right balance of empathy and ego. Don’t think so highly of yourself that you can never be wrong. But don’t become so invested in other people’s emotions that you compromise your values and lose your purpose.

I truly believe that empathy is a superpower. Being able to tap into how others are feeling, consider other points of view and give them weight aren’t the skills of an average leader. But if you allow empathy to overpower you at every turn, you’ll quickly find you aren’t the one running your business anymore. Empathy is a superpower, but don’t let it become your kryptonite.