The Role of Empathy in Leadership with Kim Gubera

**Stephen Sakach** (0:19)
Welcome back to the show, everyone. I'm Stephen Sakach here again with my co-host, Mike Liwski, who's sitting in for Tulio today. So we've got a special guest who we're introducing in a moment. We're going to talk today about empathy, and leadership conversations have been evolving. Employees and teams are asking for more clarity, more trust, more humanity from the people who lead them, and empathy has moved from being seen as the soft skill to kind of a core leadership capability, shaping how we communicate as leaders, so make decisions and navigate pressure. Today, we are exploring the role of empathy and leadership, what it looks like in practice, and how leaders can integrate empathy into the way they show up every day without losing accountability or results. Mike, introduce our special guest today.

**Mike Liwski** (1:11)
Stephen, I'm delighted to. So with us today, our guest is Kim Gubera.

**Stephen Sakach** (1:18)
Oh, wow.

**Mike Liwski** (1:19)
Stephen, I think you might need to do the intro. Literally, my Google account just got signed out.

**Stephen Sakach** (1:26)
Perfect timing. Now, Kim is president and CEO of Peer Tech, where she leads the company's operations and franchise growth strategy. And with more than 20 years of franchising experience, she is passionate about strengthening the brand, supporting franchise owners, and aligning corporate teams around shared success. Since stepping into the CEO role in 2019, Peer Tech has expanded its footprint dramatically, growing unit count by more than 90% in just five years. And Kim began her career in accounting, earned her MBA, became a CPA, and previously rose to director of finance at US Lawns. She also holds the certified franchise executive designation from the International Franchise Association. Kim, welcome to The Bliss Business Podcast.

**Kim Gubera** (2:18)
Thanks very much, Steve. And Mike, really appreciate this opportunity. I love the subject that we're talking about because I think it's very important in leadership, especially in franchising.

**Stephen Sakach** (2:32)
Yeah, so Kim, empathy is a word that gets used often, but sometimes people have different definitions of what it means. When you think about empathy and leadership, how do you kind of define that? And then, you know, when you think about what does it look like in action?

**Kim Gubera** (2:50)
Yeah, well, being the good accountant and a rule follower, I did look it up just so I had the official definition. Because, you know, it is quite intangible, I think. You know, we practice it, but maybe we don't think about it in words. And so I guess it, you know, it said it's the ability to understand and share the feelings of one another. I think it's just simply letting others know that you care. And I think that's really the way that I would sum it up quite simply.

**Stephen Sakach** (3:21)
Yeah, I agree. And so there's a lot of ways that inaction kind of that shows up, right? From leaders and to you, what comes to mind when you're thinking about the ways that you show empathy with who you're working with?

**Kim Gubera** (3:40)
Yeah, there's several. I think that, I guess, the immediate one that really happens frequently in franchising is when you have to maybe deliver a difficult message. Also happens with employees, right?
You can be so much more effective with whatever you're doing just by showing people that you care. I think a lot of times that's just listening and making sure that they feel that you respect what they've done, maybe especially in terms of franchising, what they've invested. And then when you are able to give them a reason, maybe why the answer is a no or not now, I think that's really super important anytime you're making any kind of decision. But it literally has to be something that's done daily and almost becomes not forced, but just natural. I do think that that kind of is a skill over time because I tend to be a person that if somebody tells me an issue or a problem, I'm like, okay, we could do this. And so you really have to stop, I think, and make sure you're listening all the way and not just providing a solution. This is something I've had to really develop and probably continue to develop. The people that work for me would probably say still continue to develop not being a doer, but just listening.

**Mike Liwski** (5:09)
Yeah, go ahead, Steve.

**Stephen Sakach** (5:12)
I was going to say, no, I feel that too myself. Sometimes that just that pause you need sometimes. Go ahead, Mike.

**Mike Liwski** (5:20)
Yeah, no. So I think quite frankly, the truth is that being a leader is hard or harder. Because leaders are having to balance all these things from maintaining or keeping goals to meeting deadlines, and then even considering the needs of their team. So I'm curious, Kim, where have you seen perhaps leaders most commonly struggle with this point of empathy?