An Interview With Cynthia Corsetti
Empathy let’s leaders manage through a lens of openness and understanding which is inclusive and accepting of that fact that people work differently, think differently, have lives, have good and bad days — and that all of this impacts individuals as well as the team.
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 Jennifer Schenberg.
Jennifer Schenberg is the founder of PenVine, a public relations agency dedicated to building strong, successful technology and personal brands. Her areas of expertise include brand awareness, category creation, and creating PR and marketing strategies that drive organic growth, support M&As, and achieve successful IPOs and profitable exits. As Chief Talker of PenVine, Inc., Jennifer has counseled several innovative companies and their leadership, including TransUnion, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Aruba Networking, Fandango, Hungry Girl, Sirius Satellite Radio, Leviton, Sprinklr, eMarketer, Kellogg’s, and others. She has also worked with hundreds of clients to introduce and generate momentum in various industries including mobility, advertising, fintech, biometrics, technology outsourcing, clean/green technology, wireless networking, smart homes and buildings, hospitality, IoT, EV charging, digital out-of-home, video and digital audio technology, digital entertainment, marketing and media, fraud and security, retail, social media marketing, telecommunications, credit and collections, energy and utility, and more. Her startup clients have exited to companies like Google, Cisco, AT&T, AOL, Appia, Meredith, BroadSoft, and IBM. For more information visit: www.jenniferschenberg.com or www.penvine.com.
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?
I developed a love of storytelling during college. After honing these skills, I wanted to offer my services to employers and brands by providing them with a way to better interact with “their world,” by leveraging their strengths and providing consistent storytelling. I enjoyed all aspects of storytelling: writing and placing op-eds and bylined articles on Websites, newspapers, and magazines; securing interviews with media and analysts so my employers and clients could tell their stories; and making sure to effectively reach and engage with potential and existing customers, investors and consumers in the ways they preferred and with information they relate to through direct and indirect communications that inspire them to take action by working with my employers and clients.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
During a series of conversations with a prospective client (called Brand A), I had my team research and prepare to answer a very in-depth RFP. We had several phone conversations, no email interaction, and were expected to work quickly to meet a tight deadline — all before we even received the written RFP. We researched everything about this company — how it is perceived, its strengths and weaknesses, and its most recent activity and prepared the creative ideas and detailed PR recommendations we would use to answer the RFP. When the company finally sent us a written RFP, I learned it was an entirely different company (Brand B)! We had to put aside all the research and hard work we did for Brand A and start fresh for Brand B. We worked in record time and ended up winning the RFP against very large competitors in our PR industry. This was the most ridiculously funny thing to ever happen in my career and after winning Brand B, I decided we had to go after Brand A because we had worked so hard to learn about them and develop some spectacular creative PR ideas for them. Even though we had zero relationship with Brand A, we reached out to them cold and started a conversation. We were able to win them as a client!
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?
Confidence.
Integrity.
Work Ethic.
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.
It can be stressful during an economic downturn. During times of financial strain, leaders need to make important decisions not only for the viability of their business today but for the long term. Some leaders make snap decisions while in “survival mode.” Otherwise will think about the long-term and yet other leaders will look at the big picture: “This too shall pass” and “How do we best weather this storm?” In my line of business, people are the lifeblood. Protecting people during a financial storm is the difference between the life of death of a business in my field. At one point during my company’s 20-year run, I had a difficult decision to make. Terminate employees or reduce pay in a first-line effort to weather the storm. Economic downturns are unpredictable. It takes strength, compassion, empathy, and bravery to take a path less traveled vs the textbook calculation of what will keep “the lights on” during an economic downturn. I took the path less traveled by reducing employee pay until the economy improved vs terminating employment. It kept us together and although it was painful at the time, we stayed together and weathered that downturn and are here today to tell the tale. Running a PR consultancy is like keeping a family together. It was the best decision for keeping the family together while continuing to do business.
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 is not only the ability to see the bigger picture — but how to get there with the humans who make up your team, the different personalities at play, and the connections that need to happen on a regular basis. In many instances, employees need motivation and inspiration and by tying performance to compensation — better yet, by providing unscheduled “spot bonuses,” — especially when an employee exceeds a milestone (personally & professionally) — it inspires pure joy and happiness. That’s real and if I can inspire my team, I’m a satisfied leader. It’s what keeps a team of people together — with diverse styles, personalities, and personal lives. Teaching empathy to others (employees and other leaders) is a very important part of this, but it doesn’t always work. The more empathy we have, the better we work together by understanding what makes people tick, knowing where their behaviors and actions originate, and understanding that it’s part of what makes the person. Then we can improve the way we interact and do business by finding the best way to communicate with them.
How would you differentiate between empathy and sympathy in leadership? Why is it important for leaders to distinguish between the two?
Sympathy is feeling for someone’s circumstance; empathy is understanding how the situation has shaped them and developing the best way to support their personal growth moving forward. Empathy is caring about and processing the context behind an employee’s actions and behaviors and using that information for good and the betterment of the employee. It’s very important to distinguish between the two because a leader may think they are applying empathy by sympathizing but that sympathy stops at learning the facts. Empathy takes action beyond that sympathy to help an employee learn and grow, and help teams learn how to work together given their differences. It’s empathy that inspires inclusivity which is absolutely critical in our workplace.
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”?
1 . Empathy let’s leaders manage through a lens of openness and understanding which is inclusive and accepting of that fact that people work differently, think differently, have lives, have good and bad days — and that all of this impacts individuals as well as the team.
2 . Empathy helps you be a better leader because you are making decisions wholistically, based on the person, not your idea of the person, who they are or should be on paper — decisions made in real time with real people for the greater good of the company and the individual; a company is only a good as the sum of its parts.
3 . Empathy builds trust which is critical for a successful leader; employees know they can trust a leader with empathy who has demonstrated the ability to listen, process and care about them as humans, and help them grow and thrive as an individual contributor to the team.
4 . Empathy is only a strength and never a weakness to leadership.
5 . Empathy provides the potential to add and integrate deep knowledge about personal, environmental, cultural and other information that make up an employee — you may discover strengths that would otherwise remain untapped — something vital that can provide a competitive or compassionate difference to help an individual and team thrive.
How can our readers further follow you online?
Jennifer@Penvine.com
@penvine on social sites
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
Jennifer Schenberg: 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.