#LeadershipTuesdays--Leading With Empathy...Stephanie C. Hill

“We've been working [with] our team on something called psychological safety. And basically, psychological safety is saying that in this organization, you're free to bring up your ideas, you're free to question, you're free to speak truth to power without fear of reputational damage or retaliation or anything like that.

And in order to create a psychologically safe space, you have to treat people in a certain way. You have to treat people with compassion, empathy, you've got to give them grace.

You can be tough and have compassion…a compassionate empathetic leader. Being empathetic means… [that your perspective toward the person is…], ‘I understand what you're going through. I feel what you're feeling.’ Compassionate leadership means, ‘Not only do I feel what you're feeling, but I'm going to help you.’

So if we're going to help the people that we're privileged to lead, we have to show up for folks that can't represent themselves or can't fight for themselves. We have to do that. And we also have to help people around us to be better. We have to give constructive feedback. We have to give people constructive feedback in a way they can hear it. So they can take it on board and they can be stronger for it.”

—Stephanie C. Hill, President, Rotary and Mission Systems, Lockheed Martin Corporation

On Tuesdays, the #LeadershipTuesdays platform presents a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage and strengthen women leaders. Today is the first Tuesday of Black History Month in 2025. We remember and honor those who, with fortitude and persistence, came before us and hoped with active faith for a better tomorrow. They created the foundation on which we now stand and we are grateful for not only their sacrifice, but also their example.

Today’s article features Stephanie C. Hill. She is president of the Rotary and Mission Systems (RMS) business area within the Lockheed Martin Corporation. RMS, a global leader in aerospace and defense technology, is a more than $16 billion enterprise that employs 35,000 people across the United States and in multiple nations around the world. Hill is an engineer and a seasoned executive leader with over 30 years of experience. Gifted with many talents, she is a woman of faith and also an accomplished musician.

In the quote above taken from an interview for Kahilla* with her sister, multifaceted media maven and acclaimed author Harriette Cole, Ms. Hill offers a definition and examples of what it means to lead with empathy. Check out the entire interview below for helpful, practice guidance on how you can improve your ability to lead yourself and your team through negative occurrences and tough situations. 

For more information on #LeadershipTuesdays, follow us on Twitter: @LeadershipTues.

*Kahilla is a digital base camp for women on the rise.