Adweek - 06.04.2020

ADWEEK 11

®

| APRIL 6, 2020

PUT YOURSELF

IN THEIR SHOES

When people think

about empathetic

leadership, they think

that means you’re nice.

And for me, maybe

nice is a component

of it, but empathetic

leadership means being

able to put yourself in

other people’s shoes,

whether it’s people

who work for you,

whether they are your

customers, whether

they are your clients

or your consumer.

Put yourself in their

position, understand

what they need and

then react. I think the

more you understand

what people are going

through, it makes you

that much more of an

empathetic leader.

FIND YOUR

BRAIN TRUST

Especially now, have

yourself a “brain trust.”

Find the people who

you can trust, that

can say to you, “That

might be a good thing

to do, but it’s not the

right thing for you to

do.” Find people who

you can bounce ideas

off of so you’re not

sitting in your own echo

chamber. They may

be people you know or

people from a totally

different industry, but

give yourself like four to

six people who can take

you out of your teams

and your current world

right now as you’re

evaluating ideas.

TUNE INTO

TONALITY

It’s really critical to

practice listening at

this moment because,

especially if you don’t

have the luxury of doing

a video call, all you have

is somebody’s voice.

It’s important to hear

their tonality—you can

pause a little bit and ask

how they’re doing. They

might not want to share,

but if they do, your

conversation may take a

very different track. And

I often see that when

we’re sitting in meetings,

we’re listening, but

listening with the

intention of responding.

We need to just literally

listen and take in what

people are saying.

STAY TRUE

TO YOUR

BRAND VALUES

If it’s not authentic, if

it’s not driven by your

values or not something

that is consistent

with who you are as a

brand—whether you are

a 6-month-old brand or

a 207-year-old brand—it

is not going to work.

It’s going to feel totally

inauthentic and forced.

So, as you’re developing

solutions and thinking

about your marketing

right now, really think

about the mission

of your organization

or brand that you’re

leading. It may be

tempting to say, “Let’s

jump on this,” but if it’s

not consistent with your

values, walk away.

LEADERS CAN

COME FROM

ANYWHERE

A lot of folks will say

to me, “I don’t manage

a big team or I don’t

manage a team at

all.” But you do sit in

on calls with cross

functions. You do have

meetings with other

people, whether they’re

co-workers or partners

of yours. Leadership

right now is coming

from every part of an

organization—anyone

can step up and be a

leader. You can see the

people who differentiate

themselves from

others just by how

they’re behaving and

how they’re listening.

And I always say that

in moments like this,

leaders are created.

CARLA HASSAN

CITI’S GLOBAL CHIEF BRAND

OFFICER ON LEADING AND

LISTENING WITH PURPOSE.

BY NADINE DIETZ

CULTIVATING

EMPATHETIC

LEADERSHIP

WINNER’S PLAYBOOK

HEAR MORE FROM CARLA HASSAN ON THE CMO MOVES PODCAST AT ADWEEK.COM