You just got a new bid from Get Lowered Cycles and received a call from one of your employees who was obviously very unhappy. You’ve tried to foster positive relationships with those you work with, but you’ve found it to be challenging. This is why we’re offering some advice on how to be a more compassionate leader.
Let’s get into it!
Master the Art of Listening
In order to be a compassionate leader, you must first master the art of listening. People want to feel understood and appreciated, and this can only be done if someone truly listens to what they have to say, their desires, their fears, all of it. You want to lead in a way that people feel safe and secure to open up to you.
There’s a technique known as compassionate listening, and this means you listen with all of you – not clinging or focused on the own thoughts that come in your mind. Instead, you relax and breathe and become aware and focused solely on the person in front of you. Compassionate listening is key to becoming a leader that people can trust.
Keep an Open Mind
If you’re closed-minded in your leadership, you’re setting yourself up to fail in many different ways. By allowing yourself to be open to new possibilities and perspectives, you create more opportunities for growth, ideas, and success. In turn, you also become more compassionate as a leader.
Keeping an open mind means that you listen without reacting to judgment. While judgment is an inherent, natural part of us – compassionate leaders are aware of their judgments and choose to remain open. They do so by questioning their beliefs and where they stem from. By doing so, they create an abundant mindset that helps them lead in both life and business.
People-Driven > Business-Driven
Leaders in business want to succeed, there’s no doubt about that. Yet, if a leader’s focus is mainly on the growth of business and not people, they’re missing out on a lot of opportunities in this world. The business world is run by people, and this includes everyone. You must adopt the ability to view the janitor the same way you view the CEO.
Compassionate leaders are focused more on people instead of their business as a whole. While this might seem scary to some, it results in a greater success for the overall business. Happy people are willing to work more and be dedicated to their job if they’re treated with respect and understanding.
Practice Self-Compassion
Compassionate leaders know that in order to be compassionate with others, they must also build a healthy relationship with themselves. This means they regularly practice self-compassion. They could do so in different ways. We’ve listed just a few here.
Self-Compassion Techniques:
- Mindfulness meditation
- Gratitude journaling
- Self-care days
- Yoga / Pilates
- Forgiveness mindset practices
- Daily positive affirmations
The Rundown
Compassionate leaders have the chance to grow both their business and help the world around them. This way of leading is needed more now than ever. Consider some of what we suggested today so you can grow as a compassionate leader yourself.
