Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion about empathy, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
Decades ago I was a cartoonist and graphic designer at a local newspaper. Creativity — the process and the product — has always fascinated me, and over the years I’ve written two children’s books and taught countless workshops on creativity as problem solving. Today, I’m president, CEO and creative director of Imagine Communications, a full-service marketing and communications firm based in Las Vegas, Nevada, and I’m proud to lead a crew of intuitive, skilled creatives who all excel at empathy-based marketing. Our mission is to align a company’s values, promises and skills with their clients’ needs and expectations. What sets us apart is our team’s commitment to understanding the core philosophy and values of our clients. This deep understanding serves as the foundation for our creative services, ensuring consistent and compelling messaging.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
In a marketing firm, the creative engine is the driving force. As creative director, my role is to identify opportunities and nurture talent by creating an environment that provides what my team needs most: freedom and independence to find their own path to a shared goal.
Over my career, I’ve had an evolving curiosity — an obsession, really — with understanding the creative process. Through research and development, I’ve gained a deeper understanding of my own creative process. This insight has enabled me to inspire and enlighten others through workshops and interactions with fellow creatives. The creative process isn’t a mystical ability reserved for a select few; at its core, creativity is about problem solving.
I cannot help but find the creative process itself interesting, and I am as enthralled with it now as I was at the start of my career. This ongoing journey has been incredibly rewarding, as I continuously learn and share these discoveries with others.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
I believe it’s the relationships we try to develop with our clients. Our job is to understand them, and often that requires more than an understanding of their business. There is something unique about everyone and the way they interact with the world. Understanding their values and goals, both in life and in business, often leads to better and more honest ideas that help us tell more effective stories.
There are many instances where these solid relationships have reaped unexpected benefits for our clients. When our public relations director heard one client mention two sisters who were in the sheet metal apprenticeship together, she jumped in and turned it into an award-winning, human interest story showcasing women in the trades. Connections like this are possible when the client and the marketing team know each other well, and the relationship is strong enough that each can let their guard down, take risks and let ideas happen.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Trust the talent you’ve hired. You hired them for a reason. Trust that reason. If they are not a good fit, it is your fault, not theirs. Take responsibility for the team you put together and give them the space to operate.
Manage your ego. Marketing is subjective, and you have talented people doing their best to offer ideas. At times, even great ideas get squashed for one reason or another. A pro handles this with grace. You should always feel free to fight for your ideas, but know that it doesn’t always work. When that happens, accept the loss and pledge to continue with unwavering resolve and more practiced skill. Keeping your head up and not being discouraged is important in this business. You need to bring your A game every time.
Address problems head-on as soon as possible. Conflicts between staff and management are inevitable. It’s critical to address them as soon as possible. Time spent waiting to address issues kills momentum and motivation and usually leads to other issues. Establish an approachable relationship with your staff and always offer an open door and an open mind when discussing their issues. Their work environment is directly connected to their performance when you’re not looking. Treat their concerns with the respect they deserve and act accordingly to resolve them.
Leadership often entails making difficult decisions or hard choices between two apparently good paths. Can you share a story with us about a hard decision or choice you had to make as a leader? I’m curious to understand how these challenges have shaped your leadership.
Leading often means making a choice between what your gut tells you to do and trusting in what others can do. Throughout my career leading talented, creative and strong-minded individuals, I’ve found that many times, I’ve had to ignore my gut instinct. For example, when I hired my art director, Cynthia, the first thing she said was that our website didn’t fully reflect who we were as a company. Well, I had designed the website, and so, of course, I totally disagreed with her! But I asked her to take a shot at it — figuring I’d prove her wrong. What happened was we got a much improved website and began to get website design business from it.
This taught me that when you give people a work environment that assures them you trust them to deliver the best results possible to fit our client’s needs, you need to actually trust them. When you trust your staff, and they get a big win, they feel valued and always come back with more to offer. And that is what you want at the end of the day: talent that grows naturally on its own merit rather than a carbon copy of your way of doing things.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Let’s begin with a basic definition so that all of us are on the same page. How do you define empathy in a leadership context, and why do you believe it’s a vital trait for leaders to possess in today’s work environment?
Empathy, when leading, is the foundation from which all of your efforts must grow. It’s about perception versus perspective. Everyone has formed their own perception over a lifetime. It’s the way they see the world around them, what they feel and what they hold as true. Perception is a powerfully rigid thing. It’s difficult to change, yet many leaders try very hard to do so.
When trying to build and lead a team, at the very least you need everyone to agree on your goals and directives. If your staff’s perception of these goals is unclear, or if they disagree with them, you’ll have an uphill battle. Many leaders try to forcibly change that perception or make demands to get people to toe the line. This rarely works. Any progress is usually forced, and team members end up doing things because they feel they must rather than because they want to. This affects the quality of work.
Perspective, on the other hand, has a broader focus. One needs empathy in order to have perspective — because perspective is, in a way, learning that other people have different perceptions, and why. If you focus on perspective and show your team why the goals are important and allow them to join you on this journey, you will likely have a stronger buy-in and they will bring their own value to the planning. It’s like the French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once said: “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” Emotions move people. Team members need to feel their purpose rather than be told what it is. That is how you lead with empathy, in my opinion.
Can you share a personal experience where showing empathy as a leader significantly impacted a situation or relationship in your organization?
Showing empathy comes naturally when you work closely with your people. You begin to understand their values and goals in life and naturally begin to root for their success. It’s hard to pinpoint a particular moment. It’s much more organic for me. It’s not a leadership tactic, I genuinely care about these people. Granted, it has worked for me as a leader. When you hire the right people who all agree with the direction and purpose of your work, it’s natural to begin building emotional bonds with them. Those relationships create trust and respect that elevate the work environment. The risk is that, at times, it may leave you vulnerable, but this risk is worth the outcome, in my opinion.
How do empathetic leaders strike a balance between understanding their team’s feelings and making tough decisions that might not be universally popular?
This is the hardest part of the job. I’ve been in a few situations like this and it’s not easy. Nor do I think it should be easy. But the hope is that you have been able to establish a level of understanding and respect that will carry you through those hard times. Leading talented people is not for the timid. You need to be prepared to put yourself out there and take risks. No one said it would be easy. Ensure that if you must make hard calls, everyone understands why. Try to answer all the questions and do your best to let them know those choices are for the greater good.
How would you differentiate between empathy and sympathy in leadership? Why is it important for leaders to distinguish between the two?
Sympathy is about feeling concern for people’s suffering, and it’s not a tool that is useful in leadership. Empathy, on the other hand, is understanding what moves people. It’s putting yourself in their shoes, thinking about what impact your actions will have on them. Empathy means choosing your words and methods carefully, knowing that these people are as vested as you are in the organization’s success.
What are some practical strategies or exercises that leaders can employ to cultivate and enhance their empathetic skills?
Active listening, for one. Take the time to learn more about the work environment provided. Is it cultivating good work? Seek out feedback. Hold regular team meetings, weekly if possible, where people can share their work week and address any issues they may have as a team. Be solutions-based in your leadership strategy. This is how you build authentic loyalty in your team.
How can empathy help leaders navigate the complexities of leading diverse teams and ensure inclusivity?
Having a diverse team is important because it enables you to gather more ways of thinking. If you’d rather have people who just think like you, then why even have a team? Taking the time to know each person, and understanding what life circumstances each are dealing with, will give you the insight you need to effectively address problems when they arise and also nurture each person’s strengths. Have regular meetings and address individual talent using positive reinforcement to help people be aware of what they bring to the team. Be specific, don’t just use just blanket “good job!” type statements.
Based on your experience and research, can you please share “5 Ways Empathy Will Affect Your Leadership”?
1. Improved Communication
During meetings, there are loud people and quiet people. We use a storyboarding method of brainstorming, where people put their ideas on cards that then get posted to a board (this method can be done virtually as well). Putting the attention on contributions rather than team members, specifically, is a great way to get quiet people to break out of their shells.
2. Stronger Team Cohesion
Identify strengths in your team and acknowledge them publicly. Give them credit for their great ideas. Reference successes from the past and use those stories as examples of ways to be successful. These actions show your team that you respect them, and it inspires newer team members to emulate those great examples.
3. Enhanced Conflict Resolution
Always address conflicts as soon as possible. As I said earlier, the longer you wait, the higher the risk of poison slipping in and making things more difficult. Never take sides, and make sure both team members have a chance to be heard. But in the end, make sure it is resolved in a way that is best for the business and team dynamic.
4. Increased Employee Engagement and Retention
Schedule team meetings where everyone can interact, but also have one-on-one meetings where you can get more personal and allow people to have your full attention. Building trust in your team members is important and helps grow the company culture in a positive way.
5. Innovation and Creativity
A good business leader hires problem solvers. A great problem solver is also, by definition, a great creative, and many creative people require a safe space to explore possibilities. It is the leader’s responsibility to create that safe space for them.
Are there potential pitfalls or challenges associated with being an empathetic leader? How can these be addressed?
Thinking that being an empathetic leader is just being a cheerleader is a mistake. There should always be substance in your positive reinforcement. You should also address problems vigorously. If you are offering positive reinforcements along with constructive criticism, you create a balance — and that balance helps people take you seriously as a leader, someone they will want to follow and impress. Always be fair and have reasons for your choices.
Off-topic, but I’m curious. As someone steering the ship, what thoughts or concerns often keep you awake at night? How do those thoughts influence your daily decision-making process?
I think many conscientious leaders have these red flag moments with staff and clients. Sometimes they are false alarms, but you get this nagging feeling that you may have missed something. Trying to anticipate potential problems at times keeps me up at night. The best thing to do during those times is to address those issues during your regular meetings with the staff and/or client. Keeping communication avenues open and active is so important, as it helps you stay on track and keeps things from slipping through your fingers.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I believe reminding people of their creative capacity could really lead to major changes in their lives — and I’ve acted on this by bringing my Creative Courage workshops to businesses, schools and other organizations over the past decade. People tend to not give themselves credit for how amazing they are, nor do they realize how great they could be if they just started to trust and understand their own creative process. And having a stronger grasp on how you approach and solve problems naturally enhances your empathy and awareness of the strengths of people around you. It makes you curious about things and people. It makes you want to learn more and explore new things. Nothing but good could come from that.
How can our readers further follow you online?
You can go to our website www.weareimagine.com, which has all our social media links. I also have a website that is more focused on my work and the Creative Courage workshops at www.alexraffi.com
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!