Towards Empathetic Conversations in Leadership
Radhika Jain · 2020-06-18
This reflection comes from an Applied Theatre workshop on empathetic conversations conducted for senior leaders in an IT organisation. The session explored empathy not as an abstract leadership value, but as something that can be practised through attention, vulnerability, listening and perspective-taking.
Participants worked through improvisational and experiential exercises that asked them to notice their own comfort zones, assumptions and responses while trying to understand another person’s position. One early insight was how little colleagues can know about each other despite working together every day.
The workshop also focused on listening beyond spoken words — noticing gesture, body language and what may remain unsaid. By the end of the session, participants reflected on how rarely they had consciously examined empathy as a leadership practice. The article suggests that becoming more empathetic begins with the willingness to pause, listen closely and acknowledge what we may not yet understand.