The world has changed drastically in the past few months. COVID-19 has brought unprecedented disruption, and it has also turbocharged rapid innovation. Perhaps most importantly, on a human level, it has been an enormous call to action for a trait one might not think about nearly enough in the world of “business as usual”: the quality of empathy.

Some organizations have found themselves capable of transforming rapidly in ways that may have otherwise taken them years: Employees suddenly began working from home in unprecedented numbers; normal channels of commerce (e.g., in-store shopping) were rerouted to home delivery; lines formed outside of essential retailers, customers often (but not always) patiently standing the recommended six-foot distance from each other; and the demand for grocery delivery spiked. Meanwhile, wherever possible, supply chains and manufacturing pivoted to the most pressing needs. Some clothing factories shifted to mask and gown production, while a number of distillers and perfume brands shifted to making hand sanitizer.

Amid this wholesale displacement, some business leaders have responded to the crisis and these disruptive changes in humanitarian and relatively selfless ways. When some semblance of “normal” life returns, some emerging patterns will change permanently, while other behaviors will slowly revert to prior norms. The consumer is likely to have a whole new set of desires, aspirations and priorities. And retailers, as well as consumer CPGs, will likely need to get themselves reacquainted with this reconfigured consumer in myriad ways.

Which brings us to empathy. For the last couple of years, we’ve been studying the attributes that enable CEOs to lead successfully amid continuous disruption. In the overview of our study, “Can CEOs Be Undisruptable?,” we enumerated five characteristics. One of these is the ability to exhibit high levels of empathy for customers, employees and other important stakeholders. While the current pandemic has brought all five attributes to light across a broader swath of leadership, empathy is particularly relevant at this time. In this article, we offer executives a new definition, and for this period and beyond, a potential path to get there.

Becoming the Ultimate End-User Ethnographer

Companies, especially retail organizations, have a perennial need to better understand their customers. To this end, a deep shift in our understanding of customers’ conscious — and unconscious — needs is called for, both in mindset and methodology. This shift is so important that it cannot simply be delegated, but rather must be led and modeled directly from the top. CEOs should strive to gain personal and deep insight into their end-user’s needs, and become trusted champions for discovering their subtle, often unspoken circumstances and desires — essentially answering the question, “How can we innovate to solve the problems that customers may not even be conscious of?”

As coordinates of the “new normal” for the retail consumer slowly and incrementally start coming into focus over the next months, we can be relatively assured it will emphasize the store environment; the continuing growth of online, social platforms; and the need to connect in new ways to the companies and products they like.

One example would be the perception of “safety.” This notion, so primal as to be at the base of Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs, is manifesting itself in myriad subtle and not-so-subtle ways. Some retailers are probing online social channels where the customer is commenting on the company, a function traditionally the purview of online moderators, and from which the CEO is often shielded. As CEOs become more curious about the dimensions of “safety” in the end-to-end customer experience, then developing innovative ways to understand those wishes and needs is a crucial prerequisite to addressing them.

We call this vital leadership attribute “becoming the ultimate end-user ethnographer.”

Given the increasing reliance on “big data” to understand consumer preferences, we stress caution for the need to balance this with “thick data.” Consumers want to be understood as humans, to have their present needs met and for providers to have insight to what they may be in the future. While big data represents an analysis and inferential about past behavior, thick data addresses what those needs are now and the directionality they may be taking. But the insights from thick data are not gleaned through huge data sets. Rather, they are found by talking to people without preconceived ideas, absent judgment, and driven by unbridled curiosity. How can CEOs model this mindset and put it into action? Here are a few tactics to consider:

• Let people explain how they feel or why they do things.

CEOs, like any other humans, have a natural tendency to assume that they can accurately explain what they see or hear — after all, they are intelligent, and they assume they can draw from their own experience. But this confidence can be misplaced and counterproductive. As you interact with your executive team, other employees and customers (end-users), remember that only they, the customers, can be the true experts on how they feel and act. Instead of guessing or assuming the reasons behind the other’s behavior, give them a chance to explain things for themselves. Listen to the answer, interpret what is not said as well as what is, and observe body language. It could be a matter of difficulty articulating the right words, or it could even be pride or shame, so they often need to be encouraged to give answers that may ultimately reveal sharp insights about the issues they’re dealing with.

• Explore customer insights in public digital forums, then ­extrapolate.

Whether online or one-on-one, an empathy-driven mindset can lead to insight in all kinds of places. But much can be mined from online forums. Customers are drawn to share their experiences with companies across multiple digital platforms, and there’s much to learn from this. Targeted technology is available to analyze thousands of social media posts, product reviews and emails that can help provide insight across a broad swath into what your customers think and how they feel about your products and organization, even the competition. But while you collect and share analyses of this big data throughout the company, don’t forget to exercise a degree of skepticism about the results. Then pair the data with more intimate, face-to-face conversations with individuals to validate theories and create personal narratives that bring greater meaning to the analytical findings.

• Intentionally flex your organization’s “empathy muscle.”

Cultivating an empathy-driven mindset toward customers is not a once-and-done event. It’s an ongoing effort. Practice it continually. Your every interaction, decision, behavior or action should have the intention of elevating the human experience above all. Embedding this into everyday operations — the very fabric of organizational culture — begins at the top, with the CEO. Declare the intention, keep it in mind, draw attention to it every time it is acted upon. Or compromised. Or betrayed. Then hold leaders and teams accountable.

It has often been noted that attracting new customers is far more costly than holding onto existing ones. Amid COVID-19, a period during which companies will likely be remembered by the way they treat their customers, this truth looms ever larger. One means by which to grow their loyalty dwells in the ability to develop the deepest understanding and empathy for them. For retailers who take this counsel to heart, there exists the opportunity to reemerge even stronger at the other end of this pandemic.

Benjamin Finzi is managing director with Deloitte Consulting LLP, and coleads Deloitte’s Chief Executive Program. He is based in New York City and can be reached at [email protected]. Kathy Lu is a senior manager of Deloitte’s Chief Executive Program and can be reached at [email protected]. Mark Lipton is graduate professor of management at The New School in New York City, an accomplished author, and an eminence and content contributor for Deloitte’s Chief Executive Program. He is based in New York City and can be reached at [email protected].