Be a more caring leader

It used to be the case that there was no place for emotions in the workplace.  Whatever was going on in your personal life was left at home so that you could focus on work.

The pandemic has blurred these lines – with so many of us working from home, our previously traditional notions of work and home have changed. For many, it is clear that the nine-to-five office week is outdated and old-fashioned. Not least, we have discovered that our staff are more productive when provided with the tools and support to work remotely and with greater flexibility.

Now that we have seen the inside of our colleagues' homes, attended work in our PJ's, interrupted virtual meetings to take delivery of our groceries and introduced family pets to our co-workers, will things ever be the same? Can we go back? And do these changes call for a different style of leadership?

We recently conducted a survey asking business leaders what leadership attributes they most admired in 2021. We found 57 per cent stated that empathy was the most important trait for a leader to demonstrate. A further 70 per cent said that they most admired authentic leaders.

We think that these results show that people are now calling for a more human approach to leadership – leadership based on humility, on not just showing empathy but having empathy, on being vulnerable, and on being authentic.

Of course, this is not a new leadership phenomenon, Sinek, Simon (2009) Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action captured the theme that people want to know that they are part of something bigger than themselves. They want purpose. They want to grow, contribute and make a difference. Most of all, they want leaders who are relatable and will look out for them

This human approach to leadership does not come naturally to all leaders, especially during a time of turbulence and change. However, this is precisely the time we need more empathetic and caring leaders.

Research has shown that even during the pandemic when many organisations made hard business decisions to survive, such as furloughing staff and redundancies, doing it most humanely meant they were well-positioned to bounce back. By doing it the right way, being there for their employees resulted in higher productivity and staff engagement.

Learning to be a human leader can feel foreign to most of us. You need to be vulnerable and open. It starts with you.

BEING A HUMAN LEADER STARTS WITH YOU

The first step for any leader is acknowledging your strengths and weaknesses. This means holding up the mirror and candidly asking yourself, "What is that I do well? What can I do better? And, where are my blind spots?"

I recommend all leaders consider an objective and third party opinion. This could be in the form of a business coach or mentor or using a range of readily available psychometric assessment tools to help you better understand your leadership.

This also means modelling the behaviours you want to see in others and not being afraid to show your vulnerability to demonstrate to your team that they are free to do the same.

I'd also recommend taking a close look at how you and your organisation deal with failure. If failure is punished rather than encouraged, your employees may never feel comfortable opening up about the things that make it hard for them to do their jobs, meaning you'll never have the opportunity to support them through their difficulties.

FORM CONNECTIONS

Understanding emotion is the first step in aligning where you are with where your team is. Significant change leads to emotional response. The reactions and behaviours that follow are part of creating a safe place. A place that is open and inclusive.

As an inclusive leader, you need to be an emotional listener. Because people don't always say what they feel, and no one person will be in the same emotional place at the same time.

Of course, your team isn't just going to start suddenly opening up to you about their issues, particularly if your culture hasn't been open and inclusive before.

You need to start small, connecting with your employees in authentic ways – asking about their family, weekends, hobbies, etcetera. Over time, this will make them feel comfortable sharing some of the more challenging things going on in their life.

 In our hybrid workplace, with your teams working from home, make the time for informal virtual coffee meetings. One executive we interviewed last week has organised weekly walking groups for her team, and another even went as far as hosting a book club. Both are great examples of creating a space for connection.

ADAPT TO CHANGE

Over the last two years, we will have seen more change than in the previous ten. How we work, how we connect, what is important to us, how we define meaning in our lives – all have changed. It has been a rollercoaster through every emotion imaginable. Scary and disruptive. But also transformative.

Being a leader in disruptive times demands empathy, compassion and understanding. Leaders are required to meet others with humility and authenticity.

Promoting conscious inclusion by bringing everyone to the table so that you can listen, learn and then lead to a place not entirely visible today.

I've always believed that the best leaders understand that they work for their people, not the other way around. Leadership needs to be leading the company from the inside to be effective and to earn the respect and trust of their employees.

Leaders who are genuinely interested in empowering others are easily followed. The best leaders are those who realise they don't know everything and don't want to know everything. They want to surround themselves with people who are knowledgeable, skilled and enthusiastic. Great leaders bring out the best in others and celebrate successes. Great leaders are human leaders.