Compassionate leadership isn’t simply about taking away work and giving people whatever they want… Leaders who strive for sustainably high performance need to put in the time and the effort to ensure they’re enabling their employees to achieve it.
Mark Mortensen, associate professor, INSEAD & Heidi K. Gardner, distinguished fellow, Harvard Law School
To deliver both compassion & performance, leaders need…
Data (to figure out what matters) – collect data on what Team cares about rather than assuming
Prioritization (to make time for compassion) – to spend time showing compassion, remove what doesn’t matter …it’s a prioritization & capacity issue
Setup (to increase transparency) – create an environment that normalizes conversations about the support people need
Collaboration (to co-create solutions) – well-being & engagement falls to both leaders & team members — move away from thinking of solutions in terms of a leader stepping in to fix problems