The concept of empathetic leadership has seen great popularity amongst business consultancies and news outlets (e.g. here or here). As we begin to see shifts towards more female leaders in politics (EU Presidency; Finland; New Zealand) we also see reports of changed leadership styles in response to crises. This new, allegedly softer approach is often touted as the leadership style of the future. In this session we will learn about the importance of empathy, of leading by example, and of not shying away from emotions.

Does this leadership style exist in academia? What difference would empathetic leadership styles make in academic departments? Is empathetic leadership a natural ability or can everyone learn to do it?

These are questions that will be explored at this women’s networking session with colleagues at the Regional Studies Association annual event in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The session combines a mixture of brief inputs with interaction and exercises and will be facilitated by a coach who is an international expert on empathetic leadership styles.