An Interview With Cynthia Corsetti
Empathy as a foundation for intentionality — being intentional about our thoughts and feelings is a domino effect to being an empathetic leader. This may refer to how a leader demonstrates empathy and is intentional with questions about feelings and thoughts to gain education and trust around a situation. For example, when I was determining how to prioritize funding on multiple quality projects, the intentionality around questions asked helped determine the strategy.
Empathy, the ability to understand and share the feelings of another, is increasingly recognized as a pivotal leadership trait. In an ever-evolving business landscape, leaders who exhibit genuine empathy are better equipped to connect, inspire, and drive their teams towards success. But how exactly does empathy shape leadership dynamics? How can it be harnessed to foster stronger relationships, improved decision-making, and a more inclusive work environment? As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Maitri Vaidya.
Maitri is a Healthcare Executive transforming care through data driven, evidence based, quality initiatives. With a background in Healthcare Quality Management, Population Health and Mindfulness, Maitri has experienced healthcare’s operational challenges and opportunities across the continuum of care, believing preventive measures is the key to successful health. Currently, Maitri is the Chief Wellness Officer and co-founder of Zesa Wellness and the Director of Clinical Practice at Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) as well as Global Director of Wellness and Mental Health for Spirit of the Games, an international NGO with the goal of personal accountability. Maitri resides in Los Angeles, CA.
As an experienced yogi, meditator, and instructor, Maitri created Zesa Wellness in 2016 with a passion and understanding that balance of the mind and body is crucial to creating a healthy lifestyle.
Maitri has a Doctorate in Health Leadership & Policy and a Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration. She is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE), a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ), a Certified Meditation Instructor (C-MI), and is trained to scuba dive.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion about empathy, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
The path found me!
Fate was on my side, as I had the opportunity to be raised by my grandmother, who taught me basic skills in mindfulness and meditation before I even knew this was a thing. Daily, after dinner, my family would chant and meditate together, led by my dear grandmother. Throughout my childhood, multiple skills were developed around mindfulness and meditation and only later came to light.
My odyssey in the world of healthcare commenced with a profound desire to make a tangible difference. I started by working at my college health clinic, providing social health education to fellow students, such as drugs, alcohol, and sex education resources. I was on the physician track in undergrad, but my grades didn’t stand the chance of going to med school. I still wanted to enter the healthcare field, but had to get creative. So, after undergrad, I took some time off and worked as an AmeriCorps volunteer, assisting the Santa Barbara County Red Cross. The dedication of the organization to helping people in unexpected situations was eye-opening. So, I decided to get my Master’s in Healthcare Administration and later, my Doctorate in Healthcare Administration with a Healthcare Leadership, Management and Policy concentration.
Over the next 15 years, I found myself building a passionate career in hospital and health system quality and operational management, including the electronic health record world. I navigated the intricate corridors of healthcare systems, witnessing firsthand the operational challenges and the intricate balance required to provide quality care. I furthered my experience through receiving accolades as a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE) and as a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ).
However, my innate belief in prevention as the cornerstone of health set me on an unconventional path. After a divorce and dark night of the soul, I was forced to reevaluate my life and purpose. I found myself running a hospital quality department as Vice President, having an anxiety attack in the corner of my office, not even realizing that I was in robotic mode, and having to take care of myself mentally in a completely different way than I had ever imagined. I leaned into embracing mindfulness and the profound impact of the balanced mind-body connection through yoga and meditation. This experience eventually led me to receive my Meditation Instructor certification.
Somewhere along the road, I bumped into Ashley, my now business partner at Zesa Wellness. We had collaborated on creating a business around mindfulness, with the caveat that “life happens,” and we were going to ebb and flow between primary jobs and this side business. Over the years, we have created an evidence-based curriculum for corporations to integrate mindfulness into their current wellness strategy. The science behind mindfulness is ever supportive of this practice in both personal and professional environments. This allowed me personally to fuel the creation of evidence-based initiatives seamlessly into the healthcare world.
Beyond my entrepreneurial endeavors, my leadership continues to extend globally as I volunteer with Spirit of the Games, an international NGO advocating personal accountability in making this world a better place. My role as Global Director of Wellness and Mental Health allows me to champion a world where mindfulness and wellness stand as pillars of a thriving society.
My essence transcends all the formal education and leadership lessons learned. I have embodied the transformational power of empathy, connection, mindfulness, and purpose-driven leadership with a compassionate heart. Whether submerged in the depths of healthcare innovation, building a wellness program, or exploring the world beneath the ocean waves through scuba diving, my essence remains consistent — an unwavering commitment to fostering balance, well-being, and compassion.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
Amidst life’s twists and turns, a pivotal moment emerged, reshaping the trajectory of my journey toward wellness. Following a divorce and a profound soul-searching phase, I confronted a realization to reassess my life’s purpose.
During my tenure as Vice President, overseeing a hospital’s quality department, a moment of reckoning struck. In the confines of my office, I found myself gripped by an anxiety attack, an unexpected wake-up call. After what was most likely a survivor mentality, I recognized I had been operating in a robotic mode, neglecting my mental and emotional well-being. How was I to be an impactful leader without caring for myself?
This awakening propelled me onto an unconventional path. It was a journey marked by the unexpected — a venture into uncharted territories of self-care and mindfulness. I realized the need to care for myself in ways I had never contemplated before.
Turning to mindfulness, I ventured into the mind-body connection through the practices of yoga and meditation. These ancestral disciplines provided peace, offering a refuge amongst the chaos. The exploration of these practices became a path toward balance and inner peace.
Through these dark days, I found myself drawn deeper into the realms of mindfulness. This exploration ultimately culminated in my certification as a Meditation Instructor, aligning the impact these practices had woven into the fabric of my life.
The journey from the corner of my office, consumed by anxiety, to the tranquil spaces of meditation and mindfulness, encapsulated a profound transformation. It was a journey that not only reshaped my outlook but also fueled a passion to guide others toward their own paths of self-discovery and inner equilibrium.
In this quest for personal renewal, I discovered a new dimension to wellness, one that transcended the traditional realms of healthcare. Through this awakening, I became a proponent of the holistic fusion of mind and body, advocating for the transformative power of mindfulness in fostering genuine well-being.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Zesa Wellness means balance in Sanskrit. The core of the company is to create a balanced lifestyle between our mind and body. It’s important to understand ourselves as we maneuver through this physical world. With this thought of balance, Zesa Wellness provides a turnkey solution that enhances cross-departmental engagement and access to mindfulness training for all employees. Zesa Wellness courses not only provide science-based explanations of how mindfulness affects the mind and body, but it also provides tools and techniques that can easily be incorporated into our daily lives. At Zesa, we believe that the balance of understanding ourselves and how we can reasonably improve our wellbeing is crucial to living a happy life. Our courses are also designed to provide continuing education units, as well as appropriate discounts around well credit units from corporation health insurance. Reach out to us for more details!
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
The following three characteristics have arisen multiple times over my career as being instrumental in my success.
- Adaptability — life tends to provide many twists and turns. As a leader, it’s important to understand the capacity to respond effectively to changing circumstances, environments, and situations. This involved the willingness and ability to adjust strategies, approaches, and behaviors to navigate challenges, and opportunities and lead effectively in dynamic conditions. Adaptability requires flexibility, resilience, ever-evolving learning and effective decision-making.
- Communication — is at the heart of a successful leader. Communication is the biggest challenge in any relationship — whether professional or personal. Effective communication allows leaders to convey their ideas, expectations and vision clearly and persuasively. Leaders who listen to their team and create an environment of feeling listened to, build a team of trust and shared goals.
- Empathy and Emotional Intelligence — is the character trait that has been most instrumental in my success. Leaders with this skill set are better equipped to understand the team’s perspective, motivations and emotions. This trait in leaders provides for a more supportive and inclusive work environment, building trust and strong relationships.
Leadership often entails making difficult decisions or hard choices between two apparently good paths. Can you share a story with us about a hard decision or choice you had to make as a leader? I’m curious to understand how these challenges have shaped your leadership.
A day in the life of a healthcare leader is constantly difficult decisions and hard choices between two apparent good paths. In my role as a healthcare executive leading a hospital’s quality management efforts, I encountered challenges that tested my leadership and ethical judgment between two quality initiatives.
The health system I was working with had limited resources available to implement a new quality improvement program. I had to choose between investing and upgrading the existing electronic health record (EHR) to improve data security or allocate funds towards improving the patient’s experience of care. The EHR system is crucial for guarding sensitive patient information, but the patient’s experience and satisfaction initiative are aligned with the hospital strategy of improving the patient’s quality of care provided.
After discussing the options with a multidisciplinary team, determining short and long term impacts, I made the challenging decision to allocate resources toward the patient care initiative while phasing in the EHR upgrades over time.
The experience of constantly making difficult decisions like this one has shaped my leadership style by emphasizing a need to think clearly and concisely while making decisions. With thought experts at my disposal, and a multitude of decisions and directions possible, incorporating mindfulness into my professional realm allows me to take the facts, weed out the unimportant information and make a decision that benefits the patient at the center of our work.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Let’s begin with a basic definition so that all of us are on the same page. How do you define empathy in a leadership context, and why do you believe it’s a vital trait for leaders to possess in today’s work environment?
Empathy, as it refers to leadership, is the ability to feel other people’s emotions and their perspectives while imagining yourself in their shoes without necessarily experiencing the same emotions or situations. Empathy plays a key role in our societal interactions, connections and relationships. In a work environment, understanding your team’s feelings and emotions can assist a leader in strategically making decisions that are created and supported by the larger team. Empathetic leadership actively understands emotions, creating an environment of being heard and valued. They show genuine support and compassion through guidance and encouragement and create an environment where everyone is included and accepted.
In our ever-changing world, empathy has become a requirement for successful leaders. In a work environment, empathy provides opportunities for clearer communication, collaboration, employee engagement, trust, adaptability and innovation. Empathic leaders are better able to solve complex people’s problems and provide engaging and exciting opportunities.
There are generally three types of empathy; cognitive empathy, emotional empathy, and compassionate empathy.
Cognitive empathy is intellectually comprehending someone’s thoughts, feelings or perspectives.
Emotional empathy is cognitively feeling another person’s emotions or feelings.
Compassionate empathy is a combination of cognitive and emotional empathy, when someone’s emotions and feelings are understood, but then there’s an action by the leader that is taken to help alleviate those distressed feelings.
Can you share a personal experience where showing empathy as a leader significantly impacted a situation or relationship in your organization?
One of my teammates was going through a tough time at home. As we all know, especially after the increase in work-from-home situations with COVID, our home lives and work lives intertwine at so many levels. My team member had approached me to discuss their situation, hinting at possible burnout and mental exhaustion at home, affecting their work environment. As I’m a bit of a compassionate empath, I could feel the emotions of exhaustion from my teammate. I used empathy to create space for this tough conversation. We decided to come up with a plan together. This plan involved not only an alternative work schedule to allow for more time for personal situations but also support from other team members to ensure tasks are completed. There were other factors at play, but the time off was crucial for this team member to re-evaluate and take care of personal matters. This is a great example of how we need empathy, but we also need action to support and alleviate the pain of those fellow teammates. People want an environment where they feel cared for and listened to. We can not do it all, no matter how our society portrays that picture. This is why our professional and personal communities are so important; to provide needed support.
How do empathetic leaders strike a balance between understanding their team’s feelings and making tough decisions that might not be universally popular?
As an empathetic leader, it’s important for individuals to understand themselves and their own emotions and feelings. Successful leaders provide themselves opportunities to self-reflect. This self-reflection and self-understanding can be displayed through professional leadership roles. Some of this includes the fine line between your own emotions and empathizing with your teammates’ emotions. The more you understand yourself, the more you’re able to distinguish between the emotions and feelings of others and align them to strategizing on how to achieve strategic goals. Happy employees result in an empowered work atmosphere, allowing for creativity and innovation.
How would you differentiate between empathy and sympathy in leadership? Why is it important for leaders to distinguish between the two?
Empathy is the ability to feel other people’s emotions, as though you are in their shoes experiencing the situation with them. Sympathy, on the other hand, is acknowledging and possibly showing compassion for how someone is feeling, but not necessarily sharing those emotions. Leadership connections require both, but empathy involves a depth of comprehension, connection, and vulnerability. Integrating empathy can have a profoundly positive effect on company culture and environment.
What are some practical strategies or exercises that leaders can employ to cultivate and enhance their empathetic skills?
Practical strategies that leaders can cultivate to enhance their empathy include taking regular moments for self-reflection, practicing self-empathy, active listening with team members, setting boundaries, and believing people are doing the best that they can.
How can empathy help leaders navigate the complexities of leading diverse teams and ensure inclusivity?
Empathy provides a venue for leaders to deliberately create an atmosphere that supports the diversity within their teams. Empathy helps leaders understand diverse perspectives within their group, placing themselves in the shoes of their team members. Listening to team members without always needing to respond allows for a needed vulnerability between leader and team members that leads to improved communication, trust, cohesiveness, and innovation.
What’s your approach to ensuring that succession planning is a holistic process, and not just confined to the top layers of management? How do you communicate this philosophy through the organization?
Succession planning has mostly been a strategic goal to ensure that gaps in organizational workflow are prevented. When considering a holistic succession planning process, it’s important to collect feedback from all stakeholders, both vertically and horizontally across the organization. Integrating empathy into an organization’s culture would allow for open communication channels between leaders and teams. This open communication sets the stage for collaboration and understanding of the need for a new holistic succession planning process.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your experience and research, can you please share “5 Ways Empathy Will Affect Your Leadership”?
In the world of healthcare and wellness, evidence-based support for empathetic leaders is on the forefront of improving the care we deliver. Below are five ways empathy will affect your leadership.
1 . Communication — as a noted empathetic leader, communication will improve through practice. Not only is eye contact and attentively listening important, but not feeling the need to respond with an answer is a key change in empathetic leaders. This clear communication allows for an understanding of diverse perspectives as well as enhancing patient care and team dynamics. An example of this is the discussion I had earlier about my teammate feeling burnt out. Clearly and openly communicating with empathy allowed for them to take care of themselves in a way that did not harm the company.
2 . Empathy as a foundation for intentionality — being intentional about our thoughts and feelings is a domino effect to being an empathetic leader. This may refer to how a leader demonstrates empathy and is intentional with questions about feelings and thoughts to gain education and trust around a situation. For example, when I was determining how to prioritize funding on multiple quality projects, the intentionality around questions asked helped determine the strategy.
3 . Supportive Company Culture — leaders have the ability to influence company culture. As an empathetic leader, being sensitive to how organizational employees are feeling about company change and make or break the culture. For example, let’s say an organization wants to implement a new staffing model and it affects the front line staff. Using communication and intentionality, with a curious mindset, a leader can informally survey employees to better understand their thoughts and feelings about changing dynamics that affect them. Through strategic planning, a company can move towards a staffing structure that would benefit both staff and the organization. As this trust is built, the culture of the organization also changes.
4 . Innovation — in our ever-changing dynamics, innovation is key to sustainability. An empathetic leader is able to consider diverse viewpoints, including the emotions of the team as well as customer needs. Empathetic leaders create collaborative cultures that allow for creativity around brainstorming, while supporting each other’s ideas. For example, one method a leader may initiate is an electronic whiteboard where the virtual team can brainstorm ideas within their names associated. This allows for open conversation from diverse perspectives.
5 . Trust and engagement — leaders that are empathetic will attract more trust and engagement from their teammates. Showing genuine concern about your team’s feelings and thoughts strengthens relationships, improving trust and engagement. This will result in an improved company culture, supporting communication and innovation. For example, a leader that wants to implement a specific staffing strategy will find more engagement when they are empathetic to how this will affect their team.
Are there potential pitfalls or challenges associated with being an empathetic leader? How can these be addressed?
Challenges come with all areas that emotions are involved in. For empathetic leaders, being aware of self is needed to ensure that emotional exhaustion does not result. A leader should have their own self-practice with appropriate boundaries that prevent exhaustion from empathizing with others.
Another challenge is the difficulty in making tough decisions due to emotionally understanding all perspectives within a team and/or not wanting to make a difficult decision. A key to this challenge is communication transparency about the situation and allowing decisiveness to balance the emotional vulnerability through boundary development.
There is a myth around empathy that’s important to understand. The myth is that we all give empathy, just as we are. This is not true. In order to have empathy, we must first understand ourselves and display self-empathy. This is part of the self-reflection I refer to; we have to seek to understand from a curious mindset.
Off-topic, but I’m curious. As someone steering the ship, what thoughts or concerns often keep you awake at night? How do those thoughts influence your daily decision-making process?
What keeps me up at night? Company culture. I think it’s so vital to change company culture into a thriving, creative, balanced environment. The old days are gone. COVID has shown us, through the great resignation, that employees are no longer OK with a mediocre culture. Within healthcare, much of the turnover post-COVID had to do with a lack of empathy at work. Creating an atmosphere where employees feel safe and protected allows for retention and a balanced life that allows for sustained growth.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I’ve known my soul’s purpose for a while now. This movement is about increasing the vibrations and frequency of the world to a higher level where our communities are caring for each other unconditionally and we are no longer killing our fellow humans. The awareness that mindfulness brings to the self is crucial to moving this movement forward. At the end of the day, we are here to love and live this beautiful life.
How can our readers further follow you online?
Readers can follow me and Zesa Wellness on our social media platforms, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch, Facebook. Feel free to email us at Zesa Wellness and check out our website: https://zesawellness.com/
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
About the Interviewer: Cynthia Corsetti is an esteemed executive coach with over two decades in corporate leadership and 11 years in executive coaching. Author of the upcoming book, “Dark Drivers,” she guides high-performing professionals and Fortune 500 firms to recognize and manage underlying influences affecting their leadership. Beyond individual coaching, Cynthia offers a 6-month executive transition program and partners with organizations to nurture the next wave of leadership excellence.
Dr Maitri Vaidya Of Zesa Wellness: 5 Ways Empathy Will Affect Your Leadership was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.