While leading with empathy is certainly not a new concept, it was not common practice when I started my professional career as a creative marketer more than two decades ago. I have so many stories from my career’s early days that help illustrate this point, but one, in particular, comes to mind so clearly. Just a couple of years out of college, I landed a position at a well-known publishing house as the assistant to the Editor-in-Chief of a high-profile magazine. I remember feeling a bit stuck in my role and craving new challenges more in-line with my personal passions. So, I mustered up the courage to set up a time with Human Resources, I shared my vision for my role within the company and how I wanted to do more. After my meeting ended, I took the elevator back to my desk, feeling proud of myself for speaking up. When I got to my floor, the elevator door opened, and I was met with only two dreaded words “You’re Fired.”
Stunned and completely shocked, it took a while for me to process exactly what just happened. Instead of leveraging my talents and passion, my employer dismissed me completely in the most final of ways. The employer showed zero empathy in this situation. This experience helped me form my leadership style – a chance to do things differently.
When I started Base Beauty 15 years ago, it not only allowed me to become the mom I wanted to be on my own terms but also the ability to create a company where leading with empathy would be common practice and the core value I foster in all areas of the organization – for our clients and our internal team culture.
Showing empathy in our work on behalf of our clients is not only crucial but the secret to the success of our programs. My team considers the end-user consumer with a generosity of spirit that is unique and fascinating to watch. As part of our empathetic creative process, we dive deep into the consumer experience, putting ourselves into their shoes, which results in rich and powerful insights to act on. We recently conducted an internal study of my team’s talents and learned that we scored exceptionally high in the empathy area of Emotional Intelligence assessments. In fact, of the 15 different emotional intelligence competencies, empathy was the highest, along with self-actualization. After further analysis of the work that has been most effective for our clients, we found that there is a direct link between our team’s empathy and driving results, whether it’s an increase in DMs asking “where to buy” or driving a 33% increase in sales. We know from our clients just how impactful it is to respond to these DMs right away in real-time, as it’s an opportunity to connect with customers in real-time. This data point proves how leading with empathy and hiring talent who believe in this same value system is great for team culture and for pushing our clients’ work forward.
But empathy is so much more than data; it’s about human connection. I’ve had a lot of jobs through the years and plenty of challenging experiences to inspire change. Since I started my agency, I have wanted to create a work experience that celebrates our side hustles and life beyond work. It sounds so simple, but many team members came from jobs where they had to hide their life beyond the office to maintain a facade of 100% work dedication. I don’t want to work all the time, and I don’t want my team to either. We’ve proven time and time again that we can make magic happen during classic business hours, and once the workday ends, explore, embrace and enjoy the other facets of our lives.
Empathy is also built into our team programs. We created a monthly Mental Health Day program a few years ago to counterbalance the increased pace of marketing. This extra day, in addition to PTO, is pre-assigned to staff for them to do whatever they want other than work! This program has grown and is a powerful way to communicate how much I care about my team’s well-being, helps to retain staff, and attracts new hires. Empathy also leads our Peer-to-Peer program, which pairs up staffers who are new to the agency with people who have been here a long time. The goal is to foster connection and provide rooting for new hires, but also a way to ensure that we are creating opportunities for staff to grow in their careers. As someone who felt “unheard” in my former jobs, I wanted to build a program that puts our staff’s voice first in leading their trajectory at Base Beauty. We’ve discovered incredible talents in new team members just by asking, “what else are you good at?”
For leaders overseeing teams, whether big or small, having a deep understanding of not only their team members’ goals and challenges, whether personal or professional, will show them that they are not just a number but human beings with feelings that truly matter. In return, the leader’s empathy will be rewarded tenfold with employees who will return the kindness with loyalty, dedication, and a desire to succeed.
So, whether you are an entrepreneur hiring talent or you are an intrapreneur in an established company looking to build a team, consider rethinking the core value system that will help drive positive growth and change. Being a good boss or company that leads with empathy and kindness first is not only morally the right thing to do but also good for business. And that is something we can all stand behind.
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Jodi Katz hosts the long-running podcast “Where Brains Meet Beauty.” She has been a respected voice in the beauty and wellness industry for over 20 years, 15 of them as founder and creative director of Base Beauty Creative Agency (NYC) — her groundbreaking boutique outfit whose holistic, integrated approach to marketing high-growth brands has revolutionized the industry and taken companies owned by the likes of Colgate, Church and Dwight and Estee Lauder, to unprecedented levels of sales and cultural impact. Under Katz’s leadership, Base Beauty has accelerated growth across all sales channels and marketing touchpoints, breaking down client silos to craft needle-moving campaigns for Clinique, EltaMD Skincare, Conair, Tom’s of Maine, and others. Over the course of her career, Katz has been featured in top beauty industry publications such as CEW, WWD, Beauty Independent, and BeautyMatter, among others. Her debut book, “Facing the Seduction of Success: Inspiring Stories on Leading in Business While Living Your Life,” is available now wherever books are sold.
By Jodi Katz
