Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella emphasized the importance of empathy as a crucial business skill during his speech at Axel Springer’s annual award ceremony. Nadella believes that empathy goes beyond being a soft skill and is essential in both personal and professional life.
According to Nadella, empathy is not an easy skill to learn as it requires the ability to relate to the world and the people who matter the most. He shared how his experience as a parent to a child with disabilities, his son Zain who passed away in February 2022, reshaped his outlook on life. Seeing his wife give up her job as an architect to care for their son’s needs made him realize that something had happened to his son, not to him. This profound realization transformed Nadella as a human being, a parent, a partner, and a leader at work.
This is not the first time Nadella has highlighted the significance of empathy in the workplace. He has previously stated that having empathy for your team can greatly contribute to career development. When you empathize with your employees, they are motivated to do their best work, leading to overall progress and success.
Studies have supported the importance of empathy in leadership. An Ernst & Young report found that almost 90% of surveyed US workers believed that having an empathetic manager increased their job satisfaction, productivity, and loyalty. Additionally, over half of the respondents stated that they had left a job due to a lack of empathy from their boss regarding work-related or personal issues.
Nadella also believes that empathy plays a vital role in driving innovation. He explained that innovation stems from meeting the unspoken needs of customers, and this requires empathy. Nadella spoke about these insights while accepting the prestigious Axel Springer Award, which recognizes exceptional talents for innovation, market transformation, cultural shaping, and social responsibility.
It is evident that empathy is not just a soft skill for Nadella, but rather a fundamental aspect of successful leadership and personal growth. His emphasis on empathy serves as a reminder for leaders to prioritize understanding and compassion in order to create thriving workplaces and drive innovation.
(Note: Axel Springer, the parent company of Insider, presented the Axel Springer Award to Satya Nadella.)