Leadership encompasses a variety of skills ranging from problem-solving to empathy. A good leader is expected to be a master and an eternal learner. As people recover the ravages of the pandemic, they are looking to their leaders for guidance and comfort. It is here that compassionate leadership comes into play.
Compassionate leadership is the practice of using your head and heart to help others become the best version of themselves.
Leadership is not a genetic trait. Everyone can learn to be a good leader and infuse their leadership style with compassion.
Compassionate leaders understand their job and the person before them. This helps them take the necessary steps to solve the problem, while working out a long-term solution.
The Rise of Compassionate Leadership
Research reveals that people stay in organizations where they are valued and have potential for growth. Furthermore, transformational leadership is heavily reliant on the relationships built at the workplace. One way to inspire loyalty and increase productivity is through compassion.
Compassionate leadership happens when people in power create work conditions where people feel supported and seen, and have fulfilling work lives.
The benefits of showing kindness at the workplace range from stress management to faster promotions. Multiple studies have confirmed that leaders who show kindness are capable of responding effectively to challenges which in turn helps them thrive at work.
The main benefits of compassionate leadership are as follows.
The Oxford English dictionary defines compassion as the feeling or emotion, when a person is moved by the suffering or distress of another, and by the desire to relieve it; pity that inclines one to spare or to succor.
Stress Management
A study by Harvard Business Review noted that health workers who showed more compassion were less likely to face burnout. Researchers noted that showing compassion benefitted the giver and receiver.
In their book Compassionomics: The Revolutionary Scientific Evidence that Caring Makes a Difference, physician scientists Stephen Trzeciak and Anthony Mazzarelli provide compelling evidence on how compassion can reduce stress and help prevent burnout.
Showing kindness to others has also been associated with reducing risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including counteracting high blood pressure. Research shows that kindness increases self-esteem and protects you from chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes, and cancer.
Doing nice things for others boosts serotonin, the neurotransmitter responsible for feeling of satisfaction and well-being.
All these after-effects help a leader maintain a cool head during crises and lend the right amount of support to employees.
Promotional benefits
Most people have at some point wondered whether behaving aggressively will help them move up the corporate ladder faster.
The University of California-Berkeley’s Haas School of Business studied the personality traits of people entering the job market. Fourteen years later, after their careers had solidified, the participants were assessed on the power they attained in the context of their work organization. The researchers discovered that those who were selfish, aggressive, and manipulative were less likely to be promoted while those who were extraverted were more likely to gain positions of power.
The link between disagreeableness and its effects on power prove that leaders must lead with empathy to inspire their followers to do great things. One of the biggest leadership mistakes to assume that harsh criticism will motivate employees to perfrom better.
KIND Healthy Snacks founder Daniel Lubetzky used the power of kindness to promote his brand and himself. As a CEO, Daniel Lubetzky encouraged everyday acts of kindness and started initiatives to help kids learn empathy. When food giant Mars bought the company in 2020, it was valued at $5 billion.
Higher Income
A University of South Carolina study that surveyed representative samples of the general population in the US and European countries across a wide range of income levels found a link between kindness and higher income. The researchers discovered that those who are kinder and more generous tend to have higher incomes compared to selfish people.
A longitudinal Canadian study observed the personality traits of nearly 3,000 kindergarteners for around 30 years. The authors noted that among men, independent of IQ and family background, who were kinder in kindergarten had higher annual earnings later in life, in comparison to those who were aggressive or disagreeable.
Cynt Marshall, CEO of the Dallas Mavericks attests to the importance of compassion. Her leadership principles revolve around the “three Ls” – listen, learn, and love. As the first Black woman to lead an NBA team, she has repeatedly vouched for the benefits of learning to love your work and co-workers.
Compassionate leaders are crucial in promoting and delivering compassionate cultures at work. Leadership excellence steams from having compassion, which leads to an environment of inclusivity and collective leadership that benefits the organization as a whole.
