5 Steps for Practicing Compassionate Leadership

Leadership comes in various styles, and one of the most critical styles of leadership is compassion. Compassionate leadership is not about feeling sorry for your employees or always giving them what they want. Instead, compassion in leadership is about building trust, empowering your team, and creating a collaborative work environment.

In this article, we set out 5 steps to improving your compassionate leadership and creating a culture where your team members can thrive.

What is compassionate leadership? The words sound warm and fuzzy — but that doesn’t mean they are. In fact, compassion is an essential attribute of modern leaders. Why? Because more than ever, leaders are expected to treat their people with care and humanity and respect the unique attributes and qualities each person brings to the team or organisation.

Compassionate leadership is beneficial to everyone because it encourages creativity and collaboration and promotes employee engagement – three things that are vital to achieving success as a leader.

It focuses on relationships through careful listening, empathising, and supporting others. A compassionate leadership style enables your team to feel cared for, valued and respected. This leads to increased motivation, significant personal and professional growth, and improved productivity.

Compassionate leadership can be a powerful force to increase levels of employee engagement, boost morale, and drive productivity. It can also be the key to helping employees cope with difficult times, overcome their shortcomings, and improve their performance in the process.

Done right, compassionate leadership will pay for itself, time and time again.

1. Listen to learn

Use active listening to understand what’s going on from the other person’s perspective. And that means really listening — not just waiting for your turn to talk — so you can hear all the words they’re saying and see all their emotions.

Remember that non-judgemental listening is crucial. If people feel they are being judged, they are less likely to open up, which makes your job so much harder.

2. Give people the benefit of the doubt.

We can often make assumptions or jump to conclusions. Sometimes it’s due to a lack of information, and other times, it’s due to our unconscious biases. Give people the benefit of the doubt and investigate the matter thoroughly.

Ask appropriate probing questions if people aren’t forthcoming with information. And if there’s a possibility of unconscious bias, take time to reflect and seek advice from a trusted colleague.

3. Prioritise and demonstrate empathy

Empathy is a powerful leadership quality that can help you manage your team more effectively. Putting yourself in your team member’s shoes makes understanding their perspectives, needs and frustrations easier.

But it isn’t just about having empathy. It’s also about demonstrating empathy so your team knows you are attempting to understand their perspective. Two very effective ways of expressing empathy are your words and body language.

4. Get to know your employees as people, not just workers.

As a manager, you’re not just tasked with ensuring your employees hit their numbers and deadlines. You’re also responsible for ensuring they’re happy, healthy, and fulfilled in their work. Unfortunately, it can be easier said than done, especially when you have competing priorities.

But if you don’t take the time to understand who your employees are and what they need — both on a professional and personal level — then you’ll never be able to provide them with the support they require or create an environment where they can thrive.

5. Address problems directly, with compassion.

Compassionate leadership is not about being soft or weak. The key to being compassionate as a leader is recognising when someone is in pain and helping them find a way out of it. This could relate to people struggling to meet targets or a change in behaviour that could be a symptom of a deeper issue.

Address problems directly as soon as possible. It may be a difficult conversation but acting sooner rather than later and with an empathetic approach ensures they get the help they need and they know you are there to support them.

Compassionate leaders aren’t soft, sentimental, or inexperienced. They are courageous, resilient, and committed. Compassionate leaders are fully aware of their own emotions and the needs of their people, and successfully manage the interplay between them. And that’s the kind of leader everyone can benefit from working with.

Book a free discovery call today if you would like to learn more about how you can develop your compassionate leadership and how we can support you to do so.

Published 31st October 2022.