Fall in love with compassionate leadership
Engage, empower and energize your team
Happy Valentine's Day, love birds!
After all these years, I'm still amazed by the hype that surrounds this holiday. Some people love it while others hate it, and those two feelings rule everything we do. It doesn't mean there's no in-between. It means the overruling power that fulfills our decisions is one of those two. The way I see it is similar to the 'light' and the 'dark' side of the force in Star Wars.
But I'm not writing about love and hate only to make a Star Wars analogy. I've realized those feelings also define our leadership style. Leading with compassion - powered by love -encourages your people to come up with the best possible outcome, while leading with fear - fueled by hate - means betting others will fail.
How does it feel to fear your manager?
"It feels terrible when you are afraid of your manager,” shared my good friend Regina, an HR senior manager for a multinational company. She has experience working with managers who lead with fear. “It means you don't ever want to talk to them. And if you don't speak with your manager, you cannot bring up ideas. You think everything you do is wrong... There's no room for errors—you're not even allowed to mispronounce a word—every little mistake is going to be pointed out and discussed." Regina also shared how one former manager invalidated her in front of others, used her vulnerability against her, and made comments like, "I got promoted for a reason, I know what I'm doing," when feeling threatened.
The problem with having a manager who's constantly invalidating you is that they "make you lose confidence in yourself and your ideas.” Continued Regina, “When you don't believe in yourself, in your thoughts, in your experience, or in what you're about to say, you simply don't want to talk."
Why should we lead with compassion?
Trusting employees is not only good for their career but also good for your productivity. If you don't trust the people you work with, you will not be able to delegate tasks and end up doing it all by yourself.
Compassionate leadership drives admiration, and according to Regina, "when I admire a manager, I'm excited to do my job, to share ideas I've had, to tell them a problem and come out with a different perspective. A good manager makes you feel capable, challenged, energized, and reminds you that you're doing an important job, not only for the company but for you and your career development."
That admiration drives commitment. It drives the need to be acknowledged and trusted by your manager. It drives excellence. That is what all managers want in the end—capable reports who can exceed expectations.
Understanding how our attitude and reactions can play a massive part in our team's performance is pivotal. Leading with fear is not an option if you want to have an energized, motivated, and proactive team. Sure, it's easier to yell and point out mistakes than to teach and empower others to be better. But in the end, you're not only hurting them—you're also hurting yourself.
Are you ready to commit to leading with compassion?
Best,
Camila.
Edited by: Lauren Maslen.
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EDITOR’S PICKS
8 Tips to Make Your Arguments More Productive—and Fair: Being productive is not limited to work. Your love life can also be improved in this matter, especially when you argue with your partner. Read this article by Erica Lamberg to find useful tips for love and work.
The Soft Power of Compassionate Management: Some corporations are only interested in growing and making money without paying attention to their employees.ut if leaders are compassionate and manage to convey the organizational purpose, success will come. Read more from IE University about compassionate leadership in the link above.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
How to approach difficult conversations with your manager. (Pt 1.)
Managing difficult conversations is a soft skill everyone should work on improving. No one likes to hear their employee has a condition that will jeopardize their health and the way they work. Productive Growth’s Camila Mirabal shares her experience with the subject and some initial tips to handle it in a more empathetic manner. Check it out here.
SCROLLING THROUGH
Whitney Wolfe Herd became the youngest woman to take a company public. Bumble, the famous dating app that allows women to make the first move, had their IPO on Thursday.
DISCOVER
Goals by KeepSolid is designed not only to keep employees on track but to help leaders implement goal-oriented management for their teams. Efficiency and motivation become one in this simple kanban experience with lots of helpful tools like mind maps, task management, team collaboration, roadmaps, and progress tracking. Watch this Appsumo review to learn more.
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