Empathy Mapping as a Leadership and Culture Tool
You’ve probably heard about empathy mapping at TSM before. We use it to help organizations better understand their clients, their donors, and other stakeholders. Empathy mapping helps you put yourself in someone else’s shoes by considering their emotions, needs, and experiences. For leaders managing a diverse workforce, taking a step back to empathize with the life and experience of those you manage can provide valuable insights and space for you to have compassion.
The Four Quadrants of Empathy Mapping
At its most basic level, an empathy map consists of four distinct quadrants, each exploring a critical aspect of human experience. At TSM, we use a more in-depth model with prompts to help get people thinking. It is most useful as a tool to emphasize with cohorts of people – Gen Z workers, middle managers, Customer Service Reps – this way; you aren’t being too narrow and subject to negative stereotypes.
Says: This quadrant encapsulates what the person or team member says aloud, such as their expressed thoughts, concerns, and aspirations.
Thinks: The second quadrant delves into the person's inner thoughts, beliefs, and assumptions. These unspoken elements play a significant role in shaping behavior and actions.
Feels: Emotions are a powerful driving force behind behavior.
Does: This quadrant examines the observable actions and behaviors of the person or team.
Practical uses
Generational Differences - We’ve heard so much about the clash of generations in the workforce. Empathy Mapping can be useful to understand what makes different generations tick and how to see things from their perspective.
Unique Departments - Recently, we used this tool with a senior leadership team to help them empathize with the needs and challenges of the different departments. Seeing things from other points of view helped people identify commonalities and shift their perspectives.
Your organization as a person - Engaging a cross-functional team, we used empathy mapping as a way to personify the organization to better understand the culture to help discern an onboarding process for new employees.
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Empathy mapping opens up channels for honest and transparent communication within the team and helps leaders understand the diverse perspectives and experiences of team members. By embracing differences, leaders can create an environment where everyone feels valued and appreciated. Leaders equipped with a comprehensive understanding of their team can make more informed and thoughtful decisions – this opens space for grace in the workplace. I love the use of it with departments that feel competitive and not collaborative. When you use a map on another group and then seek their feedback on your insights, new information always comes to light.
The heart of exceptional leadership and the possibility for grace in the workplace lies in empathetic connection. I'd like to encourage leaders to integrate empathy into their leadership style – this is a first step.