Empathy is the rain that feeds us

Over the past year, I have been researching, questioning and shaping our TREE model—Trust, Resilience, Equity and Empathy—for sustainable leadership. What began as curiosity gradually became conviction: that leadership, change and culture need a fundamentally different approach if organisations are to thrive in today’s world.

Many leadership models still reflect outdated assumptions. They were designed for a time when change was linear rather than complex, hierarchies were rigid, and workforces were treated as largely homogenous. That world no longer exists. Today’s organisations are diverse, interconnected and operating under constant pressure—from geopolitical instability and technological acceleration to shifting social expectations.

My turning point came when I began asking a simple question: what do complex organisations need in order to grow and thrive amid uncertainty? I wondered whether stability, belonging and connection could genuinely coexist with high performance and innovation. Too often, strategy treats people and growth as competing priorities. I came to see that both can flow from a single source: trust.

I started by observing myself. When I operate from trust, in myself and in those around me, I feel grounded and supported. My nervous system settles. I am less reactive, less driven by impulsive, short-term decisions. I seek counsel, pause before major choices and think more clearly. Creativity and problem-solving improve when oxytocin replaces the adrenaline and cortisol triggered by threat. In my work with leaders and teams, I see this pattern repeated. Trust builds psychological safety, and psychological safety enables speed, learning and innovation. This is why trust forms the roots of TREE.

From trust, resilience can grow. Resilience is often misunderstood as toughness or invulnerability, but true resilience is not about being “bulletproof.” It is an active, adaptive capacity—the ability to recover, learn and flex under pressure without breaking.

Resilience strengthens when we prioritise wellbeing and recognise early signs of stress or overload. It grows when we trust others enough to ask for support and perspective. Reflection, on successes and failures alike, allows insight to be banked and applied to future decisions. Organisational memory builds capacity. When this reflection happens collectively, resilience expands across teams and organisations.

We also build resilience by recognising interdependence. Like trees in a forest, organisations do not exist in isolation. By paying attention to the wider ecosystem; customers, supply chains, communities and families, we spot emerging challenges sooner and build stronger, more supportive relationships. In TREE, resilience forms the trunk: flexible, grounded and capable of withstanding the winds of change while accumulating wisdom over time.

TREE is a dynamic model, designed for complex, high-pressure environments where innovation is essential for survival.

From resilience, TREE reaches outward into equity—the branches and leaves that enable sustainable growth rather than brittle success.

Equity grows directly from intentional understanding. When leaders genuinely appreciate different lived experiences, needs and constraints, they are better equipped to design fairer systems, reduce bias and invite diverse thinking into decision-making. Equity fuels innovation by ensuring that a broader range of voices and challenges are welcomed, not filtered out. Empathy and equity reinforce one another, deepening trust, resilience and belonging across the organisation.

We can see empathy as being the 'rain' which feeds the entire system. Empathy is not a “soft” leadership trait; it is a core developmental capability. It allows leaders to sense what is happening beneath the surface: who is thriving, who is struggling, where energy flows and where it is blocked. This awareness enables more humane, timely and intelligent decisions.

Empathy nourishes trust, strengthens resilience and allows equity to flourish. When empathy is embedded into leadership practice and organisational culture, it creates the conditions for psychological safety, learning and continuous development. The result is a virtuous circle: empathy builds trust and stability, and fuels development. Development strengthens performance, and healthy performance cultures reinforce trust, resilience, equity and empathy in return.

Sustainable leadership does not come from forcing growth. It comes from cultivating the conditions in which people, and organisations, can grow and thrive naturally.