Effective leadership isn’t just about hitting targets, it’s about understanding and supporting your team. The epidemic of poor employee wellbeing and the phenomena of quiet quitting — a term used to describe an employee that drops productivity as a form of protest — aren’t going away.

Communications managers must go beyond traditional management techniques to combat this, and counselling skills can be a game-changer by helping leaders connect with their teams, improve morale and boost productivity.

Last year I enrolled at Lewisham college and took a level two certificate in counselling skills, in which I learned about effective listening, supporting people, while making them feel valued and empowered.

Here’s how those skills translate to the workplace, and 10 reasons why it’s something communications managers should be considering:

1. Active listening and a person-centred approach encourages personal growth

A micro-manager is like an overly-prescriptive therapist — quick to diagnose, suggest a course of action and move on without examining their staff’s motivations, rationale, or approach. Simple listening skills, including silence, repetition and clarification often results in a voluntary expansion on an issue, leading someone to arrive at a breakthrough or solution without heavy prompting. This creates a sense of personal achievement and autonomy.

2. Empathy is essential for productivity

Studies show that an empathetic leadership style increases workplace satisfaction and productivity. When employees feel valued and understood, they’re more engaged and motivated to perform — and the effect it has on morale is shown to increase productivity. Deloitte’s 2024 Global Human Capital Trends report revealed that empathetic leadership resulted in a 67% reduction in staff turnover, and a 76% increase in employee engagement.

3. Understanding phenomenology boosts collaboration

During the course, I learned about phenomenology — no two people’s experiences of anything are the same, because of differences in background, genetics, neurodivergences, etc. Assuming you know your employees’ thoughts and feelings based on your own can cause a disconnect, and a short amount of time spent listening could save countless wasted hours through misinterpretation, miscommunication, or lack of motivation from the party feeling unheard or misunderstood. Remembering phenomenology will help you tailor your approach to support diverse work styles and foster a more collaborative environment.

4. Exploring your own blocks to listening

Counselling skills aren’t just about helping others, they also involve learning about yourself. Understanding your own strengths and weaknesses such as what distracts you, particular types of intrusive thoughts and even reactions to temperature and sound will help you understand the right physical and mental environment and conditions to listen, manage, and hold more effective one-on-one meetings with your team.

5. Personal limitations, ethics, and safety

It can be tricky to strike a balance between absent and overbearing management if you don’t recognise your own limitations, both personally and professionally. This can look like knowing when to escalate and understanding what is within your remit to guide and say. There are client contracts in counselling just like employee contracts, so if you set expectations clearly, it will help you and your team avoid issues later on.

6. Boundaries and burnout

Learning, and more importantly, practicing the values of timekeeping and boundaries in counselling draws huge parallels with managing a team, such as having set times for discussion, ensuring meetings don't run over, and showing respect for the time of both parties. Being strict on boundaries, out of hours contact, and timekeeping, also stops you neglecting your own tasks, and ensures you provide a balanced level of support between all your staff.

7. Focusing on your staff’s needs and concerns

Knowing which skills to use and when, enables managers to help staff prioritise their concerns and focus areas. An overloaded colleague could come to you with a multitude of challenges to overcome, but giving space to offload, then clarifying the critical points you’ve identified shows you’re listening, while encouraging them to expand on those priorities, filtering out the overloading distractions. It can also provide you with crucial information about your company’s workload, how it’s viewed and approached, and if any structural changes or learning and development opportunities need to be explored.

8. Giving and receiving feedback

During the counselling skills course, we took turns in groups of three, acting as counsellor, client, and observer. Getting direct feedback from an impartial observer gave helpful training in terms of how we provide feedback and guide people to improve their own performance. However, getting an outsider perspective that observes how support and guidance is provided is much harder achieved in a busy office or hybrid/remote environment.

9. The Johari Window

Developed in 1955, the Johari Window is a tool that helps people gain self awareness and personal growth. It says we are built and made up of a window with four panes:

• 1. Open area. What I know about me, what others know about me

• 2. Hidden area. What I know about me that you don’t

• 3. Blind spot. What I don’t know about me, but others do, e.g. someone telling you you hum loudly at your desk

• 4. Unknown. Through effective communication, what is in this pane will move to others

Approaching management with an awareness of these areas in yourself and your team allows you to communicate more honestly, and with a more suitable level of sensitivity when required.

10. The difference between empathy and sympathy

Dr. Brené Brown, research professor at The University of Houston, said: “Rarely a response can make something better. A connection can.” In her great short video, Brené Brown on empathy vs sympathy, we learn that we don’t always have to fill a space or silence.

Sharing your own experiences has a place in management, but meeting your team at their level, understanding that the world has changed since you were in their position, and that their experiences of the same events and/or career milestones are going to be different from yours, gives you the best possible foundation to listen to their needs.

Leadership training shouldn’t be the only tool in a manager’s arsenal. Counselling skills prioritise listening, empathy, and personal development and should not just be left to HR, or professionals outside the workplace. The ability to understand the motivations of others, and learn about yourself is invaluable to improving your performance as a communications manager. Introductory courses in counselling skills are inexpensive and will teach you skills that will profoundly affect your personal and working life, so I encourage you to see what’s available.