Trust is the currency of the relationship economy and many organisations are running a deficit. Leaders need an operating system for rebuilding it. Effective empathy provides that system by turning listening, clear choices and fast follow-through into measurable performance across your events and communications.
Customers, employees and association members are reassessing who to trust and why. Accenture’s Life Trends 2025 found that people “are rebalancing key [behaviours]… in a technology-dominated world” and the “online experience is degrading… as people can no longer trust what they see.”
At the same time, leaders are dealing with competing demands. Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends 2025 highlights the tensions that need to be balanced (“Control or empowerment? Stability or agility? Automation or augmentation?”) and calls for approaches that support both business and human outcomes.
This is the context where effective empathy is useful. It offers a practical way to earn trust at scale by designing context, consent and closure into every interaction: before, during and after your event, and in the communications that surround it.
What is “effective empathy”
It’s empathy you can operationalise: listen for context, explain choices clearly, and follow through in your communications and events.
In a 2024 McKinsey podcast, Stanford psychologist Jamil Zaki was unequivocal: “There are decades of evidence showing that empathy is a workplace superpower… Employees who believe their organizations… are empathic tend to call in sick with stress-related illnesses less often… report better mental health… and a greater intent to stay… People who feel empathized with also tend to innovate more and take creative risks.” This is why it matters now. In a noisy, AI-driven world, human connection protects capacity and supports creativity.
As Erin Fuller, MCI’s Global Head of Association Solutions, says, “In an era where information is suspected as AI generated, it is incredibly important for leaders to consistently lean into their humanity. Vulnerability helps scale trust. This means acknowledging and owning mistakes, sharing stories with both personal and professional impact, and making time for genuine connections with team members beyond time-boxed Teams meetings.”
Why it matters
If empathy is vague, it gets deprioritised; when you make it a system, it drives measurable outcomes.
What does effective empathy look like at events and in communications?
As Avinash Chandarana, Chief Learning and Transformation Officer at mci group, says: "Behind every memorable event is an understanding of what attendees need, feel and hope for. When attendees feel understood, they engage more deeply, their curiosity rises, their focus sharpens, and learning follows. Tools like empathy mapping make those insights visible, helping design experiences that connect meaningfully and stay relevant."
Effective empathy adds context, consent and closure. Show clear proof that it is built in, name who owns each action and make follow-through visible. Here are some examples:
Before the event
Context scan: Run a three- to five-question pulse and two stakeholder roundtables. Share the resulting one-page “attendee needs and jobs-to-be-done” brief shared with speakers and crew.
Agenda rationale: Give every session a 50- to 80-word “Why this session” note and accessibility details in the programme or app.
Plain-English comms: Send plain-English pre-reads that say what will change, what will not and how decisions will be made. Include an AI-use notice with an opt-out and a human contact for sensitive issues.
During the event
Accessible formats: Offer mixed session types such as dialogue rooms, clinics and quiet zones. Staff an on-site accessibility desk that can make adjustments within two hours..
Agency in the room: Schedule speaker office hours and 20-minute help-desk clinics after key sessions. Provide a QR code where people can report issues, propose fixes and track status.
Human override: Label any AI-driven recommendations in the app. Route sensitive queries to trained staff who can resolve or escalate.
Leaders in the open: Executives attend clinics, take live questions and make time for learning and feedback.
Daily closure: Publish a short end-of-day wrap. List three to five actions taken, three items under review and when answers will be ready.
After the event
30-day change log: Within 30 days, send a change log to all attendees and post it online: “What we heard" / "What we changed" / "What we're still exploring”.
Decision diary: Publish a short public note for each major decision with the reason and the evidence.
Next-step invitations: Sign-up paths for pilots, task groups or certification; dates and owners included.
How it is measured
Relationship KPIs: Track four pulse questions: clarity, fairness, responsiveness and psychological safety. Aim for a 10–15% lift over two cycles.
Service metrics: Report first-response time, resolution within five days and a "decision clarity" score in the 30-day change log.
Signal checks. Ask mystery attendees to review accessibility and communications. Publish the themes and the actions you will take.
Why it matters
Events are high-leverage moments of proof. When people can see the context you gathered, the choices you made and the closures you deliver – in writing, on site and within 30 days – empathy turns into trust, and trust turns into performance.
What leadership behaviours enable empathy at scale?
The short answer: modelling permission, removing barriers and making follow-through a habit.
Association leader Christina Lewellen (President & CEO, Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools) put the leadership culture shift in stark terms at ASAE25: “I’m trying to challenge the ways that CEOs are gatekeepers… Why are we gatekeeping time? Why are we gatekeeping PTO? Why am I gatekeeping their personal development budget? Instead, [leaders should] focus on bringing in trustworthy people, building their trust in you, and empowering them within the budget you have.”
Why this matters for effective empathy
When leaders tightly control time off, time for learning and development budgets, teams feel squeezed and pass that squeeze on to members and customers. Instead, make time and learning funds protected, use them in full view and share the results. This will help talent to grow and deliver quicker, clearer decisions as well as better service quality.
How should leaders balance empathy with performance and AI?
Use empathy as a design rule for any process where AI meets people. Make it visible, give real choice, and keep a human path open. Here are some ideas on how to do that:
Decide what AI does and does not do. Write a simple purpose statement for each AI use. For example, “The event app suggests sessions based on your interests. It does not make eligibility or pricing decisions.”
Disclose in plain English. Tell people where AI is used, what data it uses and the benefit to them. Put this in pre-reads, the app and on-site signage.
Offer choice. Provide an easy opt-out for recommendations and profiling. Make the default respectful. Let people edit their preferences.
Keep a human review path. Give a named contact and a response time for issues that affect access, reputation or wellbeing. For example, “A human will review your case within five working days.”
Set rules for fairness and accuracy. Test prompts and outputs with diverse users before launch. Remove any use that fails a fairness or clarity check.
Measure perceived fairness, not only clicks. Add a short pulse-take: “I understand how my data is used”, “I can opt out easily”, “I can reach a human when I need to”. Track first-response time and resolution time.
Document decisions and changes. Publish a short “decision diary”: what AI you used, what feedback you received, what you changed and why.
What it can look like at an event
The programme and app include a two-line AI notice for recommendations.
A visible “talk to a human” option routes sensitive queries to trained staff with authority to resolve.
Daily wraps include a line on AI issues raised and fixes made.
The 30-day change log reports the fairness pulse scores and the actions taken.
As AI reshapes expectations, make empathy the way your organisation works, a habit that shapes every agenda, message and decision. Explain clearly, offer choice and keep a human hand on the tiller.
Do this and trust will compound into retention, innovation and stronger outcomes.
If you want to bring effective empathy to your next event or campaign, MCI is ready to help you. Click here to contact us.
YOUR FAQS ON EFFECTIVE EMPATHY ANSWERED
1. How do we keep empathy from slowing decisions?
Time-box the listening, publish decision criteria up front and commit to a response date. If issues are complex, expect a two-cycle loop (2 to 4 weeks) before final commitments.
2. What should we say about AI in customer/member journeys?
Say where it’s used, why it’s used, how to opt out and who to contact. If AI drives a decision that affects a person, offer human review within 5 to 10 working days.
3. How do we measure “effective empathy”?
Track perceived fairness, clarity, responsiveness and psychological safety alongside NPS/retention. If you’re starting from scratch, expect baseline of 10 to 15% improvements over 2 to 3 quarters when changes are visible.
4. What about managers who claim they “don’t have time” for empathy?
Reallocate time: swap one status meeting for 1:1s and team check-ins. As Jamil Zaki told McKinsey, connection time can be “the most efficient use of your time… if people feel connected, they work more efficiently.”
5. Does this apply to governance where policy is constrained?
Yes. Empathy clarifies trade-offs. Use plain-English explainer notes (what changed/why/what next) and publish a response log within 30 days of consultations.
GLOSSARY
Effective empathy. Empathy made operational through repeatable practices in listening, choice and follow-through. Often used in service design and leadership.
Psychological safety. A team norm where people feel safe to speak up and take risks. Often used when encouraging innovation and learning loops.
Human override. A commitment that a human can review/overturn an automated/AI decision. Often used when AI touches eligibility, access or risk.
Decision diary. A short public record of decisions, rationale and evidence. Often used after leadership meetings or events.
Relationship KPIs. Measures of fairness, clarity and responsiveness that predict loyalty. Often used alongside revenue and satisfaction metrics.
SOURCES
[1] McKinsey. “It’s cool to be kind: the value of empathy at work,” 2023–2024. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/its-cool-to-be-kind-the-value-of-empathy-at-work McKinsey & Company
[2] Accenture. “Life Trends 2025,” 2024-10. https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/song/accenture-life-trends Accenture
[3] Deloitte. “2025 Global Human Capital Trends,” 2024-03. https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/talent/human-capital-trends.html Deloitte
[4] Associations Now. "Three Takeaways From #ASAE25,” by Mark Athitakis, 2025-08. https://associationsnow.com/2025/08/three-takeaways-from-asae25/
Further reading
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