Taking care of your people post-election: Leading with empathy

No matter how our presidential election eventually shakes out, there are going to be large groups of people who feel hurt and disenfranchised over the outcome. The results and aftermath of this election will impact credit unions in many ways, but one immediate area that needs to be addressed is the impact it will have on our employees. 

Credit union employees bring our shared mission to life every day, yet many of them might be wrestling with post-election emotions that impact them on a personal level and could possibly impact their work and the culture of your organization. 

The wise philosopher Yoda once said that “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” To put it simply, our thoughts become our actions. Which is why we need to be open to addressing the feelings of our employees in a constructive way that is respectful of personal and professional boundaries. We do this by practicing empathy. 

Empathy is simple but not easy. It’s simple in practice but not always easy to pause and consider how and when we should practice empathy. Here are a few ideas to help leaders practice empathy and feel comfortable in supporting their people during difficult times:

 

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