You run into your coworker in the hallway, and they don't seem to be doing very well. If you're a woman, you'll stop to strike up a conversation—and maybe more if needed—even if it means arriving late to your meeting.
This is the core of an article published by MIT Sloan Management Review in June 2026, based on a study of 350 women in management roles.The finding: these women spend 30% of their time listening, reassuring, and making sure employees are doing well. And 59% of them report an increase in these “empathic” tasks.
The good news, if you will, is that this leadership trait is typically associated with women (women practice it more naturally than men) and that it is increasingly sought after these days.
First and foremost, there is a personal cost. Listening to others and helping them manage their emotions and moments of doubt requires women to set aside their own emotions and fatigue.The bad news is that we’re talking about a “tax”—in other words, a cost.
Then there’s a professional cost. These moments—which add up to hours each week—aren’t accounted for anywhere. No KPI measures the impact of this “empathy” on a team’s well-being or overall health. The lack of recognition and the resulting fatigue directly impact career advancement.
The existence of the “empathy tax” is striking for two reasons
- It falls almost exclusively on women, who either manage these interactions themselves or are delegated to handle them by their male colleagues.
- The current professional environment increasingly generates and requires this type of intervention.
The article offers three ways to make this cost more equitable.
- Name it to make it visible within teams, projects, and the organization.
- Normalize it: Recognize that it is a real task expected of leaders regardless of their gender.
- Share it: Revise responsabilities to distribute “empathetic” tasks among team members.
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