It’s not always education or skill that makes a leader outstanding. Sure, a well-equipped leader will do wonders for an organization, but it shouldn’t end there.
A lot of leaders lack some personality traits that are essential to becoming a great one. This is what separates the exceptional leaders from the rest. It’s also what makes other teams work better together than others.
One such trait is compassion. Do you know a compassionate leader? Would you consider yourself one?
A compassionate leader is able to put himself in his team members’ shoes to try to understand how he can help them. It’s different from empathy in that the desire to improve another person’s situation is present.
If you’re a compassionate leader – or at least trying to be – you will find that it will greatly improve your team dynamics.
What will you get out of compassionate leadership? Let’s take a look at three positive effects.
Fosters strong commitment
A compassionate leader is capable of bringing out the best in his team. When his team members feel like their leader is fair and understanding, they are inspired to deliver.
A lot of times, an organization’s success is dependent on the work that their teams put in. If your teams have great leaders, you can be sure that employees will be willing to give their maximum effort for the company.
Building commitment is necessary to win. And it’s easier to do it if you have a compassionate leader at the helm.
A leader who can demonstrate awareness and show empathy for his team members will help encourage commitment from them. If you want your employees to help you succeed, you have to show them that you care for them, too.
Good collaboration
Compassion breeds trust. Trust is essential to fostering transparency in teams and organizations.
Transparency allows teams to work more efficiently. When information is passed along in a very easy manner, friction is avoided and productivity is increased.
By having a compassionate leader, you can expect employees to be more proactive. When they take initiative, you save time, effort, and resources to ensure that teams are making progress.
Ensuring that you have someone who is genuinely invested in their team members’ well-being will help relieve some of the pressure that comes with delivering quality work. It will make your employees feel better about themselves, too.
Loyalty to the organization
A lot of employees quit their jobs because of their bosses. What will make it better? Having a compassionate leader in your teams.
Companies often struggle with high turnover rates. It can be disheartening, but when this becomes an issue, you will know that something isn’t working within teams that hinder the organization from moving forward.
When employees consider their leader compassionate, they find it more rewarding to stay with the company. Having someone stick up for them and consider their situations at work inspires them to be loyal to the organization.
Having this kind of leadership will also be rewarding for the company – it means higher employee retention and greater profits. If you find compassionate leaders who are capable of spreading their positive traits to the company, make sure you take care of them, too.