Empathetic Leaders Are The Future of Leadership
Leadership is not just about managing people or overseeing projects, it's about creating a vision, guiding your team towards that vision, and inspiring them to do their best work.
Historically, our society has trouble seeing how empathetic leaders and leaders that hold others accountable are mutually exclusive. In this blog, I will explore reasons why leaders don’t need to choose between the two and how working with both energies will deepen the vision and connection of a team.
Not to put anyone in a box, however, the current leader avatar is one that has micromanaging tendencies, passes blame, and uses scare tactics to keep team members on track. Of course, long-term this doesn’t work, and of course, most leaders don’t think they are doing this. So rather than bringing a team together, it’s pushing the team apart. Creating distance in team synergy. This leadership model reflects the idea that heavy accountability creates results and empathy does not help create
Empathetic leaders are our future. The best leaders can and will offer both accountability and empathy. Caring for a team with empathy while also kindly holding people accountable will offer the results that a business is craving. These leaders know it’s not about being “nice” to people but it’s being aware, having respect, and understand what others are feeling both win and lose on a project. A true leader will let a team member know when they have let them down or done something incorrectly, however, in a way that never belittles this person’s character.
All leaders know that there is always a job that needs to get done and that there are objectives that a person is responsible for. However, the difference is knowing that through kindness and understanding, you can more sufficiently achieve these responsibilities. A team will still deliver results, in fact even better results when they feel cared for and trust is not destroyed.
Traits that empathetic leaders have:
Good listeners: Empathetic leaders listen actively to their team members and make an effort to understand their unique perspectives.
Compassionate: They care about their employees' well-being and try to help them in any way they can.
Approachable: Empathetic leaders are easy to approach and create a safe environment where team members can share their concerns.
Encouraging: They inspire and motivate their team members to achieve their goals and reach their full potential.
Collaborative: Empathetic leaders work collaboratively with their team members and encourage teamwork and open communication. This includes holding accountability to each member of the team to achieve what is expected of them and their job responsibility.
In conclusion, empathetic leaders prioritize their employees' well-being and build strong relationships, while leaders that focus only on accountability prioritize results over their employees' needs. It's important for leaders to be self-aware and understand the impact their leadership style can have on their team members. By being empathetic and prioritizing their employees' needs, leaders can create a more positive and productive work environment.
I’m Krista Ryan
My job is to help you learn a little, laugh a lot, and get clear on action steps for your success.
It may have taken a life changing event to shake me awake and decide I no longer wanted to live a comfortable life… I wanted to embrace the discomfort and live a life of courage and intention.
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