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Emphatic Leadership
Episode 220
Friday, 17 October, 2025
In this episode of The Humane Marketing Podcast, I sit down with Sinead Rafferty to explore what leadership looks like for empaths and highly sensitive people in today’s fast and complex world. We talk about why empathy is a vital strength in leadership, how the old myths of authority and “loud voices” are giving way to more human-centered approaches, and what unique gifts empaths bring to the table. Sinead also shares the inspiration behind the Empathic Leadership Summit and how themes like self-leadership, professional leadership, and purposeful leadership weave together. If you’ve ever doubted whether you’re a leader, this conversation will help you see leadership through a more humane, grounded, and empowering lens. In this episode we discussed: What leadership means today, in a world that feels so fast, complex, and often overwhelming Why empathy is such a vital part of leadership — both personally and professionally How the idea that leadership requires titles, authority, or being “the loudest in the room” is shifting The unique strengths highly sensitive people and empaths bring to leadership — and why they matter The biggest myths about leadership that deserve to be debunked The inspiration behind the Empathic Leadership Summit, held on Oct 21st – 23rd How the three themes of Self-Leadership, Professional Leadership, and Purposeful Leadership weave together What Purposeful Leadership means to Sinead, and how participants can experience it during the summit Watch this episode on YouTube --- Ep220 Speaker 2: hello, humane marketers. welcome back to the humane marketing podcast. the place to be for the generation of marketers that cares. this is a show where we talk about running your business in a way that feels good to you, is aligned with your values, and also resonates with today's conscious customers because it's humane, ethical, and non pushy. i'm sarah senecroce, your hippie turned business and marketing coach for quietly rebellious entrepreneurs and change makers, and renegade author of marketing like we're human, selling like we're human, and my new book, business like we're human. twice per year, i host my signature program, the marketing like we're human, aka the client resonator program live. in a deep dive into the seven p's of the humane marketing mandala, you will learn to market from within. this program is for you if you want and need to get more clients, but want to share your message in an ethical and humane way. you want to make a difference with your work. you are just starting out or have been in business for a while, but haven't really found the marketing activities that work for you, or you are pivoting your business from business as usual to your life's work and want to radically change the way you get clients. find out more at humane.marketing forward slash program. marketing like we're human runs usually in late january and february and june. and if you feel like you're already doing a good job with the marketing, but it's the selling that you're struggling with, i'm now adding a new program called how to sell in 2026 and beyond. this will also run twice per year in an intimate cohort to get the most out of it. find out more about this program at humane.marketing/howtosell. this program usually runs in april and november. and if you prefer one on one support from me, my humane business coaching could be just what you need. whether it's for your marketing, your sales, general business building, or help with your big idea like creating a group program or writing a book, i'd love to share my brain and my heart with you together with my almost twenty years business experience and help you grow a sustainable business that's joyful and sustainable. if you love this podcast, wait until i show you my mama bear qualities as my one on one client. you can find out more about that at humane.marketing/coaching. thank you so much for letting me share my offerings with excitement. and now onto the show. Speaker 3: hello, friends. welcome back to another episode. today's conversation fits under the p of personal power. if you're a regular here, you know that i'm organizing the conversations around the seven p's of the humane marketing mandala. and if you're new here and you don't know what i'm talking about, well, you can download your one page marketing plan with the humane marketing version of the seven p's of marketing at humane.marketing/ one page. that's the number one and the word page. and this comes with seven email prompts to really help you reflect on these different p's for your business. today, i'm speaking to sinead rafferty about empathic leadership. before i tell you a bit more about sinead, allow me to mention that i'm still booking human conversations in my serene garden. these are terms that i'm using in the selling like we're human book. and if you've looked at the sales page of the program, how to sell in 2026 and beyond, uh, that you can find at humane.marketing/howtosell. and if you're interested in selling more in 2026, who isn't, but also really want to sell differently, then let's have a chat to find out if this is the right fit for you at this time. we start on november 13, and it will be a small and safe group and a beta round for this first edition. okay. back to the show. so sinead rafferty is a career and alignment coach on a mission to empower highly sensitive people, hsps, empaths, deep thinkers, and divergent minds to thrive in life, work, and leadership. her alignment coaching brings identity, energy, and purpose into harmony so clients can live and lead authentically. from that foundation, she integrates career and business strategy, turning inner clarity into practical roadmap for meaningful contribution and growth. with over seventeen years experience in personal development, leadership, and business strategy, sinead combines empathy and intuition, psychology and innovative coaching techniques to guide clients in turning sensitivity and their natural skills into powerful assets for authentic leadership and purposeful impact. sinead lives on ireland's northwest coast with her husband and two children, loves travel, music, and wild winter walks by the atlantic. here's what we talked about in this episode. what leadership means today in a world that feels so fast, complex, and often overwhelming. why empathy is such a vital part of leadership, both personally and professionally. how the idea that leadership requires titles, authority, or being the loudest in the room is shifting. the unique strengths highly sensitive people and empaths bring to leadership and why they matter. the biggest myths about leadership that deserve to be debunked. the inspiration behind the empathic leadership summit, which is held on october 21 till twenty third. and how the three themes of self leadership, professional leadership, and purposeful leadership weave together, and finally, what purposeful leadership means to sinead and how participants can experience it during the summit. i'll be talking about business like we're human on day two. that is all about professional leadership. so i really hope you will join us for this empathic leadership summit. you can sign up at humane.marketing/leadershipsummit. but now without further ado, let's listen to sinead and i talking about empathic leadership. Speaker 0: shanae, it's so good to see you and have you on the podcast. welcome. Speaker 1: thank you, sarah. such an honor to be here, honestly. thanks a million. Speaker 0: yeah. it's so good. and we're collaborating on something. right? and so i thought, well, why not have you on the podcast and talk about empathic leadership? because that's the the topic of this episode, and it's also the topic, um, um, and the title of your upcoming summit. and i mentioned that in the intro and we'll mention it again because we really invite people to join us for these conversations that i think are so key right now. but let's dive in. uh, and yeah, let me ask you first, like, what does leadership mean to you given, you know, the current world situation? and then what does empathic leadership mean? Speaker 1: well, it's a good question. i think it's important that we ask ourselves, what is the definition of leadership? you know? um, and i think what we're witnessing on the world stage today, um, means it's even more important that we ask that question, you know? um, i believe that leadership is, or at least i hope it is moving towards something that is more about connection than it is about control. um, you know, the ability to hold space for people in a very complex scenario, a complex world that we live in. you know? i think that's really important. um, and the only way to do that is to is to feed empathy through. so so that leadership, um, is redefined with empathy at its core. you know, that it becomes completely normal, that empathy is there at its core. and that begins with self awareness. it begins with knowing our own values and our own energy and our own purpose. um, so we can come from a grounded place. and then it's about humanity, isn't it? i mean, ultimately, it's about humanity. it's about recognizing that people thrive when they feel safe, psychologically safe, when they see when they feel seen and heard, um, and not just managed. you know? um, it's so important that we're leaders in our own lives, that we can make our own decisions because i think that it's the habits in our own lives. you know, we're so drawn in by social media and things like that. and those daily habits are what that's feeding into keeping the wrong people in charge. Speaker 0: do you Speaker 1: know what i mean? so it definitely starts with self leadership. you know? Speaker 0: yes. yeah. i love that. yeah. and i think what you brought up there is this topic of sovereignty. right? the self leadership, sovereignty, and and and why that is so important right now. and i like how you said we don't wanna be managed. yeah. that's exactly how it feels like. it feels like we're, you know, a bunch of sheep being somehow managed to do this, do that. and and we've yeah. we just are tired of that. but that means that, yeah, we need to come from this inner awareness and this inner sovereignty, uh, and and not just show up as sheep. right? because i think there there is that as well, people who just are so used to be managed. and then there's, uh, people like the people that we're trying to attract to the summit who are ready to step into leadership, whether that is self leadership or or purposeful leadership out there. um, when you talk about empathy, why why is empathy so so key in today's world? and and why, you know, i i think that's not what we're seeing as an example Speaker 1: opposed to to us sensitives, you know, or us empaths. um, but what empathy does, it it it connects to your needs and your motivations and your values. so that's like for yourself and for others. so it connects you to other people. and in doing that, i think it creates a sense of inclusion where people feel heard and they feel understood. and from there, you can build trust with people. and from there, you can build productivity and success. i mean, there's study after study that shows that the more trust and the more inclusion and the more safety people feel in the workplace, the more engagement that the companies get, uh, and then the more successful they become. um, so it's there. like, the evidence is there. it drives performance if that's what your priority is. um, it shows that the teams led with empathy are more engaged. they're more resilient. they're more innovative. you know? like, the writings on the walls, i don't know why it's disappeared. it's the foundation of relationships without a doubt, um, because without empathy, leadership, as you say, is kind of transactional, isn't it, instead of being for the people. so it's like that, you know, the sheep are following and the leader is just doing whatever they want. i mean, that doesn't make any sense at all for the people. you know? so hopefully, we're, as a collective, waking up to that. you know? because if you think about leadership without empathy, um, you're ignoring people's values. you're ignoring people's motivations, and you're ignoring their needs. um, and if you do that for long enough, what happens to the people? you you know what i mean? they begin to revolt, i hope. and i think that's maybe what we're beginning to see globally. Speaker 0: hopefully. yes. yeah. mhmm. yeah. yeah. exactly. it's like when we're watching the world stage, we have a really hard time finding empathy and leadership. and and also, um, i was just referring to an email exchange i i had with someone when i shared the summit. they wrote back it was miriam who wrote back to me and said, you know, it's interesting that leadership to me just kind of, like, meant male and very authoritarian. right? Speaker 1: yeah. there you go. Speaker 0: that's that's, uh, kind of like how we've grown up, uh, to think of leaders. uh, they're they're male and they're very, you know, aggressive and and, yeah, authoritarian. and so it is time for us to redefine leadership, i really think. and and and just adding that little word, empathic, in front of it, well, that that says it all. yeah. it does. it says Speaker 1: it all, and it actually brings it. you know, i i kind of sometimes say this isn't rocket science. it's human nature, and it brings people back to just being human, um, instead of being so influenced by by the the crazy narrative that people are being fed. you know? mhmm. so, definitely, i mean, it's it's interesting to hear that from miriam, um, because it's true. there's that sense of, like, well, there's only a certain character perhaps or temperament can be a leader. Speaker 0: mhmm. you Speaker 1: know, kind of there's a bravado to it perhaps or it's loud or extroverted only, you know, and that couldn't be farther from the truth. Speaker 0: yeah. yeah. so if we think about empaths and highly sensitive and and neurodivergent, uh, people, it it does feel like there's not enough role models. because, you know, you take elon musk. yeah. he might be neurodivergent, but he's the opposite of an empath. right? and so, uh, it can be intimidating to kind of feel yeah. feel called into leadership because of the wrong role models. so how how do you see this changing and what yeah. what's the conversation that needs to be had? Speaker 1: well, i think, you know, a lot of the work that i do with with highly sensitive and empaths is the first step is self validation. so a lot of hsps, highly sensitive people and empaths, have grown up, um, feeling that they're they're wrong somehow, that they're weaker somehow. so we need to change that belief. we need to validate the incredible skills that we have and recognize them as being that bit different to that traditional bravado loud leader. you know? yeah. like, the skills that are there innately. you know? authenticity, sensitivity, adaptability, empathy, all come so naturally, um, that it's just about having that little bit of courage to be seen, that courage to find your voice, to be able to offer these incredible innate skills that we have. and they're plentiful. you know? and this is why i always kind of include neurodiversity in the conversation because neurodiversity is everyone. so that includes hsps and empaths, which is my focus. right? but we are wired differently, so we come under that umbrella as well. everyone does. um, so, like, what we're offering in terms of, you know, cultural sensitivity or attention to detail or, um, the vision and depth we bring to the conversation, you know, we naturally create the psychological safety that people need. like, it's all there already. i think we just have to find that courage to step up if we can. Speaker 0: yeah. yeah. courage is a big word. right? yeah. because it it does yeah. it does need a lot of bravery to, yeah, to step up and speak up. and i think it it helps to know that you're not alone. uh, and and that's why a summit is is great. right? to feel like, oh, Speaker 1: i'm not Speaker 0: the only hsp. i'm not the only empath who who feels this inner calling because oftentimes as hsps, we we really want to work on impact. right? but it's it's sometimes, like, there's a lot of ambition and there's not always the energy, uh, because a lot of times, you know, we need to really learn how to balance our energy. but to have a group together who's like, no, but we can do it and we can do it in a different way, in a maybe more gentler, quieter way. uh, yeah, that's just really, really encouraging. Speaker 1: yeah. a 100%. like the sense of community is, is so important in this summit. you know, it's about bringing people together and it's about building momentum year on year. i've kind of committed in my head to an annual event so that we can grow that network and grow that community. um, and just to pick up on what you said, like, the work that i do, i base it on kind of three aspects. i call it the alignment code. and one is identity and feeling empowered in who you are. one is energy flow and energy management. and then i bring in strategy. and i think what a lot of people are trying to do is jump to strategy and they don't they haven't taken the time to ground in who they are to truly empower themselves and to manage their energy flow and their state. once they've appreciated that their energy flow is different to to to what they maybe have seen all of their lives and to that neurotypical, uh, example that we've always had. Speaker 0: yeah. i'm so glad you bring that up. i have a um, presentation coming up at the at a conference in stockholm next week or two weeks. and and i already know, uh, like, okay. this is gonna take a lot of energy, so i'm definitely not gonna attend the mingle after, you know, like, i need to, i need to somehow be able to find that quiet space and refill my batteries. but, um, i see it with my son right now. he's he's, um, autistic. and, and, you know, it's really hard. we we just found out he's in his twenties, and it's really hard for him to balance, um, you know, having fun with his friends, going out, and then being completely depleted and exhausted. and so it's something you need to learn and yeah. absolutely. sometimes you need a coach or somebody Speaker 1: to help. you can't walk the path alone. none of us can. that's the thing. um, i refer to that as the sensitivity spiral because we kind of expect ourselves to be able to bounce back or recover or wake up kind of reset like you might see, you know, a neurotypical man, you know, who has a twenty four hour hormonal cycle. you know what i mean? it doesn't apply to everyone. and you often need to have that sense of, like, okay. what did i do yesterday? because that is gonna affect how i am today, and how i am today will feed into tomorrow. so that's a real awareness that's required. and i, you know, i would help people reach an optimal energy flow for them as an individual. no one size fits all. Speaker 0: yeah, exactly. and, and that's hard in your twenties because all you want is to be like everybody else. Speaker 1: yeah. oh, it's very hard in your twenties. yeah. like, i mean, i didn't have this sussed in my twenties. i know that for sure. yeah. um, and the extremes are more when you're younger, aren't they? and the the crazy nights out or whatever it might be. um, yeah. absolutely. it's it's very challenging for for for younger people. that's for sure. Speaker 0: so let's talk about the the summit, um, a little bit. um, there's there's three main themes. and how do they what are they and how do they weave together? Speaker 1: um, okay. so, um, i came together with my cohosts, linda bins and teresa behan, and we had a good discussion about how we can make a a summit that is sensitive, friendly, if you like. right? that is paced in such a way that isn't overwhelming, that people can choose what they want to attend on the day. they can also have the replays for a certain period of time, etcetera. so, uh, because i think sometimes when you go to a summit, it's just talk after talk after talk. and i did learn from last year, so i'm learning each year, um, that, yeah, it's better to to have less is more, basically. do you know what i mean? so yeah. we decided to have three themes for three days. and those themes are self leadership, which is day one, and that is all about, as i've said already a little bit, the foundation of everything, knowing yourself and your energy, your values, how to nourish yourself, how to manage your energy, um, and design the life that you truly want. then on day two, we're looking at professional leadership. so that's like, okay, how do we bring that to the professional settings, to the workplace, or to business? uh, reframing what leadership might look like in those settings, um, making business and the workplace more humane where you're gonna be stepping in there on day two. and then, um, purposeful leadership is day three. that's kind of the bigger picture, um, kind of like the the why of it all. so if self leadership is about self, professional leadership is about how we're doing it, and then purposeful leadership is why we're doing it. you know? why is it so important for us to do this? so that's kind of the thinking behind the three the three themes. Speaker 0: i love that. and you're leading day three. right? purposeful leadership. Speaker 1: yeah. yes. indeed. Speaker 0: so what's your presentation or or, yeah, topic going to be? Speaker 1: um, so so this is the piece about the courage. right? so my talk itself is about the courage to be seen, voice, and visibility. um, and i touch on the evolutionary kind of aspect of sensitive leaders and hsps in general. um, i've kinda been saying this for many years, uh, that your purpose, whoever you are out there listening, has meaning. your calling has meaning. your your drive, whatever drive that you have to achieve something specific, you have that drive for a reason. and i truly believe that, you know? mhmm. so i think for me, when it comes to purposeful leadership, it's kind of like looking beyond what we already know. and there's a a narrative out there around, um, the evolutionary aspect of, say, sensitivity or the evolutionary aspect of neurodiversity and the advantages to society that that different perspectives are offering up, you know. um, for example, you might have pattern recognition, more cognitive complexity, memory skills, and heightened perception, heightened sensitivity. and i believe that we're at a point where those skills need a chance to shine, you know? so that's why i try to empower my clients in recognizing those innate skills before they try to do any strategizing Speaker 0: in terms Speaker 1: of what they want to achieve. you know? so that's kind of what i'm covering, uh, on on day three. Speaker 0: i love that. yeah. and and it's so true that the recognizing the uniqueness and and and also pointing out how these specific skills are so important in the time we're in right now. and that's why there's so much courage needed. Speaker 1: right? yeah. exactly. so well put. exactly. you know, it all ties in. um, we we we need to find a way to kind of be okay with being seen. because for a lot of hsps and empaths in particular, the sense of being seen, of being visible, um, is a sense of exposure often. you know what i mean? and we don't we don't want that. we don't like that, and i relate to that personally. so it's kind of like bringing ourselves to a place of psychological safety so that we can then lead others. Speaker 0: yeah. mm. so good. i can't wait. yeah. it's it really sounds like every day has its purpose and is very unique. yeah. yeah. i think so. what do you hope for participants to, to, to take away and come away with after the three days? Speaker 1: so i'm kind of the eternal optimist always. right. so i just want them to feel empowered. i want them to feel like they're not alone. like you mentioned that there's a community there that we can help each other, that we can support one another and understand one another. i want them to walk away with a sense of possibility and with hope. i think we need more hope these days, right? and we we we can all do our part however small in feeding into to that hope. um, so i hope they they i hope they get a sense of clarity, a sense of confidence in their own way of leading in their own lives. i hope that they can pick up practical tools and ideas around, um, business practices, building connections, managing energy, and then the the inspire. i hope they i hope they'll be inspired. i hope that they will feel inspired, that they have a place, and that we have a role to play, um, in this crazy world today. Speaker 0: amazing. yeah. and i hope, yeah, that they have the courage to really show up and speak up. and in my talk, i kind of specifically talk about intrepreneurs. so people in companies, but that have this entrepreneurial spirit and, and really feel like, feel called to change. uh, and so, yeah, i just really, with all my heart, hope that they will get the inspiration to to speak up and and change things. Speaker 1: yeah. i hope so. um, yeah. i love intrapreneurs. i've worked with many of them as well. and i always love, um, the idea of, you know i always say to the entrepreneur, you know, if there's no box on the hierarchy of the company for there, then you need to aim to to aim for the day where they have to create a box for you. you know? because i had a client once where they had to create a box because they just couldn't categorize what he was able to do. um, and i was just it was such a celebration, uh, the day that he told me they've created me a Speaker 0: new box as a priority. and i Speaker 1: was like, yes, that's it. you know, that's impactful. that's purposeful, for sure. Speaker 0: wonderful. well, why don't you tell people again where they can sign up the exact dates? and, and then if people listen to this, you know, after it already happened, maybe they can still sign up for the replays. they can still sign up for next year as well. Speaker 1: yeah, exactly for next year. so this year, the format is that it's, um, free to attend with fourteen days replays, and then there is a vip upgrade if you want to have the sessions, you know, for lifetime access or whatever. um, and that includes bonuses including some time with ourselves, you know, some coaching sessions. um, so you can sign up the website itself. um, maybe we'll link it below. it's not as nifty, i suppose, as i would like it to be. um, it's empathic leadership summit, but it's it's it's there's a heyessummit.com on it. so i'll just put the link below, um, in the show notes if that's okay because i don't wanna confuse people. um, yeah. so i i really hope that people sign up, that they join us. you know, join the movement. let's redefine leadership together with empathy, um, at the heart of everything. Speaker 0: yeah. um, yeah. it's so much more than a summit. right? and and i mentioned in the email that i sent out to my subscribers, i'm like, i'm very picky with what kind of summits i speak at. um, and what i like about this is that it really feels more like a movement. and it's also, you know, it's not overwhelming. it's three days. it's only 12 speakers. like, sometimes i get invited and there's 36 speakers. we're like crazy, crazy amount of overwhelm. so yeah. Speaker 1: that's yeah. Speaker 0: i'm really Speaker 1: glad. huge level of energy when yeah. Speaker 0: when you Speaker 1: have things like that. and i think that as hsps, our brains just attach then, don't we? we can't quite engage because Speaker 0: it's Speaker 1: just it's just too much, too overwhelming. so yeah. i am honored that you were joining the empathic leadership summit, uh, an absolute honor that you're with us for that as a speaker. sarah, thank you so much. Speaker 0: yeah. thank you. and mention also your website. people want to work, uh, directly with you. Speaker 1: yeah. so all all the information about my work is on sineadraffertycoaching.com, rafferty.com. um, um, shayraftertycoaching.com. so on there, um, i think the best place to start is i have a free mini course. it's called embracing the gift of high sensitivity. um, and that's a really great place to start. that's where the self validation lies. so if anyone's interested, they can sign up for that. Speaker 0: wonderful. well, i can't wait. very much look forward to it. thank you, shanay. Speaker 1: thanks, sarah. thank you so much. Speaker 4: i hope you got some great value from listening to this episode, and i really encourage you to step into courage. you can find out more about sinead at sineadraffertycoaching.com. and most importantly, if you're listening to this episode before 10/21/2025, do join us for the empathic leadership summit. i think it's gonna be great. you can sign up at humane.marketing/leadershipsummit. i just created a pretty link, but i'm not receiving an affiliate commission. i just really believe in sinead and this work. you find the show notes of this episode at humane.marketing/hm200andtwenty. and on this beautiful page, you'll also find a series of free offers, the humane business manifesto, as well as my two books. sorry. my three books, marketing like we're human, selling like we're human, and business like we're human. thanks so much for listening and being part of a generation of marketers who cares for yourself, your clients, and the planet. we are change makers before we are marketers. go be the change you want to see in the world. see you soon.
