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Empathy Week 2025

Something caught my eye on my social media timeline yesterday. It was a post about an event called 'Empathy Week,' and as I write a lot about empathy being one of the key characteristics of effective leadership, I decided to investigate further.

Empathy Week is a big deal as it is not just a national event, but a global one. It launched in 2020 and the website states that last year they involved over 330,00 students in 54 different countries. I must be honest that up till yesterday I had not heard of it but it is backed by big hitters such as the BBC and The Times newspaper, so with a bit of luck, it will become even bigger this year.

It is free to register your school for Empathy Week, and for me signing up is a complete no-brainer as the aim of the organisers is to develop "the crucial skill of empathy in students aged five to eighteen". They will provide teachers with resources for the classroom as well as access to assemblies and other live events throughout the week.

I am sure that I am not alone in thinking that empathy is seriously lacking in the world at present and that it was significantly eroded by the events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Some adults seem like lost causes, to be honest, so we really need to focus on the next generation to get things headed back in the right direction. 

We need our children to grow up to be empathetic people who care for each other and empathetic leaders who will shape our society for the future. Empathetic leaders understand that success requires positive cultures and that positive cultures come from positive relationships. Empathetic leaders know that both challenge and support are necessary to facilitate growth and change. They are prepared to be questioned about perceived 'softness' by those who lack empathy, but they have the strength to stick to their beliefs. 

If we can facilitate this by engaging with Empathy Week and then taking the ideas forward into our day-to-day teaching, perhaps the future will be dominated by leaders in the mould of those described in Yes Magazine's article 'Empathy Heroes: 5 People Who Changed the World' rather than that of some of the leaders we are currently saddled with.

To sign up for Empathy Week, or just to read more about it, visit empathy-week.com

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