Why You Need To Be a Compassionate Leader (and How To Become One)

Employees of today won’t simply settle for a boss who doesn’t have their best interests at heart. Instead, they’re crying out for the dawn of the compassionate leader.

In his bestselling book Humanocracy, business thinker Gary Hamel says: “In the age of upheaval, top-down power structures and rule-choked management systems are a liability. 

“They crush creativity and stifle initiative. As leaders, employees, investors, and citizens we deserve better.”

But how can you step up to the challenge and become the kind of leader employees will follow anywhere? Here is everything you need to know about how to become a compassionate leader.

What is a compassionate leader?

Compassionate leadership is a leadership style that prioritizes empathy, understanding, and candor – even in difficult situations. It’s a more human way of approaching business leadership and one that treats employees like actual human beings instead of just cogs in the machine.

As for what compassionate leadership looks like, there’s no shortage of ways to demonstrate compassion. Consider, for example, two leaders: a more compassionate leader and one who is more self-serving and power-hungry.

If a compassionate leader notices a team member struggling, she might try to understand the team member’s challenges, offer support, and provide resources to help them. A self-serving leader, on the other hand, might see this as an opportunity to assert authority, criticizing and threatening consequences in an attempt to motivate by fear.

It’s not hard to guess which one of these two will be the more effective leader in this scenario.

The benefits of having compassionate leadership in the workplace

Businesses that hire and train more empathetic and compassionate leaders tend to gain a lot of advantages. Some of the biggest benefits of having compassionate leadership in the workplace include:

• Greater job satisfaction
• More employee engagement
• Better employee wellbeing and mental health
• More creativity and innovation
• Better employee retention and loyalty
• Higher productivity and performance
• More effective conflict resolution and reduced workplace stress
• Stronger employer brand that makes attracting top talent easier

Signs of a compassionate leader

What makes for a compassionate leader? At the end of the day, compassion, empathy, and understanding can come in a variety of forms. However, there are some specific signs that your leadership style is in line with that of compassionate leadership. 

Has a strong team understanding
If you want to become a more self-aware and empathetic leader, you need to see yourself and your team from as many angles as possible. According to Uppercut CEO Gary Keegan, compassionate leaders are the ones who roll up their sleeves and put in the effort in every part of their company.

“I really want to understand what my organization is about because I don’t want to lose touch. I want to stay in there. I want to listen to people and hear how they work and understand every function of the business,” he says. “I want to carry some of those messages or ideas back to where I think and to challenge our own team at the table.” 
Gary sees this flexibility as a core strength leaders can focus on and improve – one that builds better relationships between leaders and their staff.

“Effectively, if you have a team where you’re getting the best out of everybody, some person’s ten might be an eight, another person’s ten might be a ten, and another person’s ten might be a seven. But they’re all bringing the best of themselves to the table, and one shouldn’t be more appreciated than the other in the context of what the team does to achieve success.”

Hear more in Gary’s podcast episode.

Shows kindness and empathy

Another highly relevant point that Gary Keegan touched on is the importance of showing kindness and empathy – particularly as it pertains to building support and recovery structures.

“Build in the dips. Look at your annual plan, look at the big moments, the peak events within your business within the year, and then look at the moments where you can rest people, where you can actually give people time to recover,” he said. “Be deliberate about building dips in.”

These are the kinds of measures that will support your staff and, ultimately, improve their performance. They are also a key example of how showing kindness and empathy can directly boost employee well-being and prevent burnout.

Builds enduring team success

Helping your people build on their strengths should be an ongoing process in today’s working world. But how, as a leader, can you find the right balance between appreciating the work they are already doing and encouraging them to keep improving?

During our chat, Gary said, “We need to put the right environment around people to give them the best chance of realizing their potential, to help them show up in the best version of themselves, and to help them to understand what their best version looks like.”

One way of doing this, Gary added, is teaching managers to coach their teams. This, he said, will empower them to “bring the collective on a journey together.”

“All businesses have teams, but do they truly understand what it takes to become a really excellent team? What it takes for colleagues within the business to really have each other’s back, to really support each other, to know that they can be vulnerable within the group and the group will pull them along with them? That sense where you can be yourself.” 

Instilling this culture of trust, support, and recognition is key to the future of work. Leaders must start championing these pillars in order to set their teams up for enduring success.

Fosters an inclusive work environment

Showing compassion and taking the time to understand your employees helps foster a more inclusive work environment. It ensures that every employee feels valued and heard, and gives them the confidence to share their perspectives.

A diverse workforce is a powerful one, but it’s not enough to simply hire diversely. If you want to benefit from diverse perspectives, you have to start by creating an inclusive work environment that encourages employees to share their thoughts and ideas.

This helps drive innovation and growth, in addition to making employees feel more included.

Empowers team members with trust and autonomy

Employees are a lot more likely to do hard things and give their best effort when their leaders trust them with autonomy. 

By showing trust and confidence, compassionate leaders encourage employees to take ownership of their work. This, in turn, causes employees to take more pride in their work, which leads to better performance.

Along with turning pride into a motivating factor, giving team members trust and autonomy also offers several other advantages. It fosters a sense of responsibility, sharpens employees’ decision-making skills, and increases job satisfaction.

Why leaders should be themselves at work

Understanding yourself is key to becoming a great leader, and this is a lifelong journey. In the first season of the Employee Experience Podcast, we spoke to Claude Silver, Chief Heart Officer at VaynerMedia. She told us that being a great leader requires “becoming more empathetic, more kind.” 

“It all leads back to emotional intelligence and self-awareness,” she said. “It’s very difficult to come into a situation truly if you don’t really know yourself. You can fake it a bit, but figuring out who you are and how you function is a lifelong journey, and I think that’s the first step in becoming empathetic – really understanding you and becoming kind and compassionate to yourself.”

In the past, we’ve all had leaders who encouraged us to come to work wearing armor. Moving forward, our new workplaces need to promote psychological safety first and foremost. As Claude said during our conversation, people need to feel they can “bring their authentic self to work” and “speak up without fear of retaliation.” And this is true for leaders, too. 

There is no fake personality you have to adopt or mask you have to wear to be an effective leader. By being your authentic self, you encourage other team members to do the same (all while doing a world of good for your own wellbeing in the process).

How to become a more genuine and compassionate leader

It can take some effort to become a more genuine and compassionate leader, but there are plenty of ways to get started. If you want to embrace the benefits of compassionate leadership, here are a few great practices to consider adopting:

Practice self-compassion

It’s impossible to show love and compassion for others if you don’t love yourself first. By learning how to practice self-compassion, leaders can foster a mindset that will lead to more genuine interactions with team members.

Being understanding and forgiving of yourself also sets an example of kindness and compassion that encourages others to adopt the same approach. 

Last, but certainly not least, practicing self-compassion is key to taking care of your own wellbeing. If you want to reach your full potential as a leader, you can’t neglect self-care, and self-compassion is the place to start.

Start active listening

Active listening is all about listening with the intent to understand rather than to respond. It’s a key leadership skill that plays a crucial role in compassionate leadership. Empathy requires understanding, and you can’t hope to understand your employees if you don’t start by listening to them.

We’ve all been guilty of thinking about what we’re going to say when it’s our turn to speak – instead of paying attention to what the other person is saying. But, practicing active listening helps leaders demonstrate genuine interest in team members' ideas, concerns, and feedback.

There are a lot of ways you can work to improve your active listening skills. Maintaining eye contact, asking open-ended questions, and paraphrasing to confirm understanding are a few of the fundamentals. These active listening tips will not only help you better understand your employees but also ensure that employees feel heard and valued.

Practicing active listening boosts a leader’s problem-solving skills by giving them the benefit of diverse perspectives and ideas. It also helps promote trust and a more inclusive team culture by letting employees know you genuinely care about what they have to say.

Embrace vulnerability

As a leader, an important lesson to learn is that vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness. It’s truly puzzling how the idea that a good leader needs to be cold, stoic, and robotic has persisted for so long. A leader that employees can relate to on a genuine, human level is going to be much more effective.

Being vulnerable by sharing challenges and admitting mistakes demystifies the leader persona. It makes you more relatable and approachable.

Setting an example of vulnerability can also encourage a culture of openness and honesty. It builds an environment where team members feel comfortable sharing their own ideas and concerns without fear of judgment.

Cultivate empathy
You can’t expect to just decide one day that you are going to be more empathetic. Empathy is something that develops over time. It takes work, nurturing, and a commitment to maintaining the right mindset.

To become a more compassionate leader, you’ll need to actively work on your empathy by constantly putting yourself in your team members’ shoes. Take the time and put in the effort to genuinely consider their perspectives and feelings.

Even after you’ve cultivated a sense of empathy, you’ll still have to work to demonstrate it. Acknowledging team members' efforts, showing interest in their career development, and providing support during challenging times are just a few of the ways compassionate leaders can continually demonstrate empathy.

Cultivating a more empathetic workplace offers a treasure trove of benefits. A survey by Catalyst revealed 76% higher employee engagement and 61% more innovation among companies prioritizing empathetic leadership development.

(Compassionately) leading the future with Workvivo

Businesses operate in a very different environment than five or 10 years ago. We’re already updating our systems, processes, and tech in this new context – and it’s time for leadership to change, too.

But when team members and leaders can go their entire careers without ever meeting one another face to face, how do you cultivate empathy, compassion, and genuine bonds?

This is where a tool like Workvivo can make all the difference. By giving employees and leaders a platform to communicate and engage with each other, Workvivo helps create the kind of human connections that successful teams need.

Request a free demo today to see why Workvivo is the perfect tool for empowering compassionate leadership in the modern age!