Compassionate Leadership: A Way To Boost The Group

Warren Bennis once said that the good leader is one who is capable of transmitting a personal vision to a certain group. To this day, we know that this definition falls short, very short. In fact, nothing is as complex as managing a group of people and influencing them so that they can give their best. In the midst of this context, compassionate leadership arises perhaps as one of the most interesting approaches.

Something that publishers know well is that this topic is always topical. Who more and who less has had an unsuccessful boss, one of those who orbit between authoritarianism and narcissism. Understanding why they are so is of interest.

Daniel Goleman explains to us in his book How to be a Leader that one way to improve business performance and innovation is by applying emotional intelligence in every organization. Strategies such as good communication, correct management of emotions and a successful exercise of empathy, notably improve the atmosphere and the management of every leader with his human team.

However, the truth is that most of the time we remain with good intentions and nothing (or very little) of this is applied effectively.

Not by taking a course and not by working a few hours with an expert in mentoring will the bad leader become a good leader. It is a complex process, because there are personality factors, genetic components and acquired habits that make change difficult.

However, it is something that should be worked on. Let’s delve into the subject.

What is compassionate leadership?

Compassion can be basically defined as the desire to be kind to others. We could say that it is a practice that does not abound in excess, but something that we know well from the field of psychology and neuroscience is that few dimensions have such an influence on the human being.

Compassion is the opposite of aggression, submission, authoritarianism, and even indifference. Compassionate leadership is the ability of a person to be close and understanding with the team he leads. Furthermore, etymologically, compassion derives from two words: “suffer with . “

The person who allows himself to share the day-to-day concerns of his own and connects with his emotional realities will have a greater impact on his own.

Let’s learn about the dimensions that define compassionate leadership.

The key is empathy

Great leaders are not those with the best abilities to control, command, or convey their ideas to others. In reality, the great leader is one who manages to inspire. It is that person who understands the personal experience of the other and awakens their strengths through motivation and trust. Something like this can only be achieved through an exceptional psychic tendon: empathy.

This dimension is capable of eliminating confusion, opening doors and enhancing the best in each person.

The compassionate leader guides his team and learns from it

Leadership needs feedback. It is a continuous exercise where you guide, inspire and guide others and, in turn, learn from those around you. Because nothing is as complex and rich as a work team, where differences arise, where innovative and risky ideas flourish and where, of course, mistakes are also made.

Compassion allows leaders to use a flexible mindset to know how to manage and learn from all these situations. It is being receptive each day to all experiences with openness and generosity.

Compassionate leadership, therefore, recognizes in turn that each member of the group is not only an important someone, it is also a decisive piece of the project and that thread that sustains the fabric of an entire organization.

An approach based on abundance and growth

Another fundamental piece of compassionate leadership is the mental, emotional and behavioral approach of that figure who heads a company. The person who maintains an attitude based on the sense of abundance, growth and improvement, progresses.

On the other hand, those who persist in inflexibility, in the traditional and in which to take care that nothing changes, stagnates and rarely knows how to face challenges.

Compassion is knowing how to connect from optimism. It is to see ten solutions to each problem and not ten problems to each situation. The person who exercises this dimension on a daily basis inspires others and creates a comfortable and satisfying work environment.

Is it possible to go from authoritarian to compassionate leadership?

We pointed it out at the beginning: it is not easy to achieve change in a leader and more, if he is used to developing vertical leadership, if he is basically an autocratic boss who exercises power from the top down. How then to get it to move towards a more compassionate perspective through a more horizontal scheme?

The answer is complicated. And it is not because when we talk about leadership, what is behind in many cases is a personality style. You communicate, work, manage challenges and difficulties based on your experience, your needs, attitudes and personality variables. The narcissistic leader will hardly become a compassionate leader.

Beyond this reality, there is an undeniable fact. The leadership style reverses the organization and marks its success and survival in the market.

A bad leader is like a virus that infects and weakens everything. Hence, each person who is in charge of a team, be it business, sports or any other type, should reflect on themselves. The impact it generates on others is the most decisive.

Choosing compassionate leadership can change everything.