Just One LEARNING Bite

Podcast: ‘Empathy = Care + Trust’

In this week’s Leadership Learning Bite, I’m sharing my conversation with Jayson Krause on his podcast, The Executive Commute.

👉️ Title: ‘Your Empathy Might Be Making You a Worse Leader’

👉️ Podcast: The Executive Commute, hosted by Jayson Krause

👉️ Guest: yours truly

👉️ Link: All Personal YouTube Channel – Emerging Leaders Playlist

👉️ Original Description:

‘Empathy gets treated like a personality trait: you either have it or you don’t. Roxana Radulescu, Level 52 coach and facilitator, argues that’s wrong.
It’s a muscle, and most leaders are either overusing it, avoiding it, or using it to avoid the hard conversation instead of having it.

In this episode of The Executive Commute, Jayson Krause talks with Roxana about what empathy actually is (her definition: care plus trust), what it isn’t (sympathy, agreement, an excuse to skip feedback), and where it goes wrong at the top of organizations.

They dig into a Yale psychologist’s argument that empathy fuels bias and tribalism, why holding more power tends to erode it, and whether “care first” leadership is a real strategy or just a nicer way to describe layoffs.

They cover:
Empathy defined: care plus trust, not sympathy
The line between empathy and judgment
The case against empathy: bias, favoritism, and in-group tribalism
Why power erodes empathy (and what that means for executives)
Empathy’s role in high-stakes, high-performance teams
A simple starting point for building the empathy muscle

If you’ve ever held back a hard conversation because you “didn’t want to make it worse,” or wondered whether empathy and high standards can coexist, this conversation will change how you think about both.’


Now, I hope this gives you a new lens on a skill most of us assume is ‘soft.’
Leaving you with the definition at the centre of the conversation:

‘Empathy = Care + Trust.’

Listen in to see why I define it this way.

Lead Different. Do Lead with Empathy.

Game On: what’s a learning bite you’d like to share?

Roxana