Leading with Heart: The Transformative Power of Empathetic Leadership

In the vast spectrum of leadership styles, one particular approach stands out for its emphasis on understanding and acknowledging diverse viewpoints. This style is characterized by its adaptability and flexibility. Leaders who embrace this approach actively engage in listening to gain insight and inspire others to follow suit. At the heart of this servant leadership style lies empathy. It’s an art form to convey to your team that you value them as individuals, all while maintaining a keen focus on the organization’s success. Studies suggest that empathy is a skill that can be honed and is beneficial to all. The practice of empathy entails understanding its cultivation, its influence on your team, and how to express it without seeming insincere or weak. Displaying and practicing empathy is a testament to your respect for your team, a defining trait of dedicated leaders. We cordially invite you to join us as we engage with a panel of esteemed leaders. They will share their insights on how they integrate empathy into their staff’s skill set, drive change, and foster a culture of empathy within their teams.

Publication Date

2024 | April

Mental Health and the Workplace

3

Dana Compton

2

Managing Director and Publisher for the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)

Dana Compton is the Managing Director and Publisher for the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), having previously served in the role of Editorial Director for ASCE. Prior to joining ASCE in 2018, she was a Senior Consulting Associate with KWF Consulting, working with society and other clients to develop strategies around scholarly content. Dana has also served as Publication Director for PNAS and held production positions at the American Society of Clinical Oncology and Thompson Publishing Group. Dana is a past President of the Council of Science Editors (2019-2020) and remains an active CSE volunteer. She also serves as a UN/HESI SDG Publishers’ Compact Fellow, is a member of the 2021 Society Street Program Committee, and serves on the Text Recycling Research Project advisory board.

Gladys Alejandra López Morales

1

Customer Success Manager UK & Nordics and Diversity & Inclusion in Healthcare at Elsevier. Founder of Holland Alumni Network Guatemala

Originally from Guatemala and based in Amsterdam, Gladys has been working for almost 8 years at Elsevier Health Markets. She has supported commercial efforts across different regions; such as LATAM, Europe and Middle East. She is a committee member of EMBRACE (DEI Employee Resource Group) and the Founder and Lead of EMPOWER- Project established in 2020, which aims to improve patient outcomes by increasing awareness of inclusive content and tools among healthcare staff. In 2023, she took the lead of the Health Markets I&D Working Group, creating a space for ideation and discussion among the leaders of current DEI external projects and working towards Elsevier’s goal of making healthcare more inclusive. Passionate about cultures and interpersonal relations, she has lived in 5 different cultures (Guatemala, Canada, India, The Netherlands and Thailand) and was University Lecturer of Cross-Cultural Management; among other teaching experiences. She holds a MA in International Relations from Webster University and two BA: International Business and in Marketing from Universidad del Istmo (where she was appointed for 8 years as President of ALUMNI). She was also President of the Board of Holland Alumni Network Guatemala; strengthening Dutch-Guatemalan cultural, economic and professional relations.

Jeff Mahony

1

Senior Director, Professional and Consumer Publishing, American Academy of Pediatrics

Jeff Mahony (he/him/his) is Senior Director, Professional and Consumer Publishing, for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), based in Itasca, IL. At the AAP, Jeff oversees an extensive portfolio of professional/clinical books, best-selling books for parents, and innovative digital resources for the point-of-care. He has been active in publishing industry conferences and working groups and currently serves as co-chair for the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) Training Committee. Jeff grew up on the east coast of the US and is a proud graduate of Hofstra University in New York. Ask him about his great young adult kids, his music tastes, or travel adventures – or don’t ask him and he’ll tell you all about them anyway.

Rebecca McLeod

2

Managing Director, Harvard Data Science Review

Rebecca McLeod is the Managing Director for the Harvard Data Science Review (HDSR,) the open access platform of the Harvard Data Science Initiative. In this role, she oversees all business, publishing and program operations of HDSR including business development, production and editorial activities, and marketing. Rebecca has decades of experience in scholarly communications having worked in marketing, editorial development, operations, and relationship management roles for both nonprofit and commercial organizations including ThRebecca is very active in the scholarly communications industry having chaired and served on multiple committees for the Association of University Presses, the Professional and Scholarly Division of the American Publishers’ Association and the Society for Scholarly Publishing. She is a founding member of the Boston Women Information Network, a former member of the Board of Directors for the Society of Scholarly Publishing, and currently serves on the Steering Committee for the Coalition for Diversity & Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC) and the Board of Directors for the National Information Standards Organization (NISO).e MIT Press, Aries Systems, and Copyright Clearance Center.