Julia Gillard, in her endorsement last week of Hillary Clinton, said Clinton "knows what it's like to be the subject of the stereotype that a powerful woman cannot be likable, that if she is commanding then she must be incapable of empathy".
That there's a greater expectation for female leaders to be empathic is supported by recent research. One such study, based in Australia, was published last year.
![Hillary Clinton's campaign is focusing on her empathy for women, minorities and children.](/web/20160807013943im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/e/i/g/9/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gqksaf.png/1470276175275.jpg)
What makes this particular study intriguing, and especially relevant in relation to Ms Gillard's comments, is that the scholars investigated the role of empathy in the context of career derailment. Career derailment is the academic term used to describe those perceived to have the potential to quickly climb the corporate ladder but suddenly find themselves sacked, demoted or stuck in a rut.
Almost 300 leaders were analysed. The analysis comprised two components. In the first, the leaders' employees were surveyed on the degree to which they thought their leader was empathic. In the second, the leaders' bosses were surveyed to determine the degree to which they thought the leader was at risk of potential career derailment.
The result: Female leaders, when rated as highly empathic by their employees, were deemed by their bosses as significantly less likely to have their career derailed. In other words, the more empathy they showed, the more likely their managers thought they would go on to have a successful career. Being empathic is therefore good for your future … but only if you're a woman.
So why is that? Well, according to the research, that trend occurs because there's a general expectation that women should be empathic. Which means when they dutifully meet that stereotype, they end up enjoying safer jobs. But when they fail to meet that stereotype, they're often seen as "cold, selfish and bitter".
As a consequence, they suffer career-related penalties that men don't endure even when men break stereotypes often ascribed to the male gender (such as assertiveness, confidence and independence). It also effectively means men can get away with abandoning empathy since their career appears to remain relatively unaffected when they're a little "cold, selfish and bitter".
The shame of it, aside from the obvious gender discrimination, is that every organisation and every employee within it can benefit from empathic leadership, hence why the researchers suggest the following:
Be willing to help others within your business.
Show interest in your team members.
Display compassion.
Listen attentively.
Consider other points of view.
Be conscious of your employees nearing burnout.
Roman Krznaric, an Australian-born British-based philosopher, cautioned in his book last year that even though some studies indicate women are predisposed to empathy whereas men are less so, "there is little evidence that men and women differ substantially on their cognitive ability to step into other people's shoes".
In the book, Empathy: Why It Matters And How To Get It, Dr Krznaric goes on to say that "the real issue is not how much empathy you are born with, but the extent to which you are willing and able to develop it. Enhancing your capacity to see the world through the eyes of others is much more about the steps you take than what sex you happen to be."
Which brings us to the concluding point that both men and women are capable of empathy but are evidently rewarded (and punished) differently for it, thereby confirming Julia Gillard's comments as correct. In order for powerful women to be perceived as likeable, they need to exert greater effort at displaying empathy. Men, in contrast, do not.
That's why the authors of the study conclude that, "at the very least, these findings suggest that women leaders may be most successful at improving their influence and likeability by providing signals that combine highly competent behaviour with warmth and empathy".
But that's not exactly fair, is it?
James Adonis is the author of Employee Enragement.
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