As human beings, we are wired for connection. For supervisors and managers, the ability to build empathy with employees is essential to practicing effective leadership. Knowing how another person feels and being able to sense those feelings is critical to connecting with and inspiring others.
Engaging employees in the workplace is one way to find out about their experiences and how they are doing and feeling. Engaging people directly will reveal their values and what they are thinking to lead to a better understanding of them which will give insights for future interactions.
A leader’s job is to get results, and they accomplish this by influencing their direct reports to accomplish something. Once a leader has built empathy with their employees and understands them, they can lead with compassion.
You might be thinking “What does compassion have to with leadership?” and maybe “if we show compassion that could be taken as a sign of weakness.” Not at all. If managers and supervisors understand how their direct reports are feeling in the moment, such as maybe they are frustrated about something, then leading with compassion is the act of taking positive action to help that person. Leading with compassion is acting on empathy.
One example of leading with compassion is in the area providing performance feedback to employees. If an employee is struggling performance wise, it can be a frustrating situation for both the employee and supervisor. From a leadership perspective, getting frustrated with the employee who is in a state of frustration doesn’t help improve the situation. The employee is already in a negative emotional state, and voicing frustration with them will further put the employee in a defensive mindset where they are in “fight or flight” mode. They will either push back or withdraw. On the other hand, if the supervisor acknowledges and manages their frustration with the direct report and then strives to gain an understanding of what they are feeling and experiencing they can take positive action to help the employee. Coaching the employee into a solution that works for them, or providing advice on how to solve the problem or both examples of compassion, responding positively to improve the problem at hand.
Leading and responding with compassion, rather than acting out of frustration creates conditions for true communication and collaboration to occur in the workplace and other environments. We have a choice in how we interact with others. Leading with compassion takes courage but produces far better outcomes than acting with frustration and provides a more positive experience for all in the workplace which is key to leveraging the full potential of the human talent in an organization.
Thriving Teams Institute cofounder Jonathan Silk, Ph.D., has expertise in leadership and team development. His diverse experience leading teams and multi-team systems brings valuable insights into improving team functioning during uncertainty and chaos. At Thriving Teams Institute, he combines his experience and passion for developing teams and organizations to be their best by applying his research and knowledge to improve a team or organization’s overall level of performance.
