The best organizations have leaders that show compassion and understanding to their employees. It creates an environment of trust and a culture of inclusiveness. No matter the size of your organization, everyone can benefit from the power of a compassionate leader – whether you’re in the corporate world or working for yourself as an entrepreneur, self-made millionaire, freelancer, or small business owner. This article will walk you through five important tips that you can use to become more compassionate, regardless of your position within your company.
In an era where emotional intelligence is highly valued, compassionate leaders walk their talk and build strong emotional connections with their employees. You can learn more about being an emotionally intelligent leader in our post How to Be An Emotionally Intelligent Leader. Additionally, be sure to check out our other posts on leadership development, which include effective management techniques for employees and techniques that will help you become more engaging as a speaker.
The best leaders walk around their workplace making eye contact and developing meaningful relationships with their employees. For example, every morning, Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric (GE), makes time to sit down in his office for an hour and chat with every single employee who passes by. After all, GE employs over 300,000 people—that’s 300,000 one-hour conversations! It may not seem like much but such interactions demonstrate that Immelt cares about his employees as individuals.
Let your team know that you expect great work, but that you also understand they won’t always meet those standards. This creates an environment where people can make mistakes without feeling like they’ve disappointed you. When people feel like they have room to fail, they’re more comfortable experimenting and trying new things.
A compassionate leader does not have to be hard-hearted to get things done. In fact, I would argue that being hard-hearted is counterproductive. Being vulnerable and compassionate makes people trust you more, and it creates an environment in which people feel comfortable speaking their minds and disagreeing with you.
When employees know they’re valued, when they trust their boss to have their back and when they feel confident that their leader has their best interests at heart, amazing things can happen. Great employees take pride in providing great service to customers. They’re creative and innovative, bringing fresh ideas and thinking to a business. They go above and beyond what’s expected, delighting customers and ensuring word-of-mouth continues to spread through an organization.
Here’s an article on Invaluable Compassionate Leadership tips.
or check out this article on when being too vulnerable is a detriment.