Being a leader in our profit-driven world is not easy. We are constantly under pressure of performing and also increasing our team’s performance.
The article The Missing Links in Leadership, published by the Australian Institute of Management, reminds us of two characteristics necessary to maintain a healthy environment in a busy workplace. Those are compassion and empathy.
As Kerry Anne Cassidy explains in this article, being compassionate everyday “is about ensuring you have the right intention in approaching a situation or person”. That is making sure you first get a grip of the situation (or the other person’s feelings) rather than making suppositions before handling.
Further, Cassidy defines empathy as recognizing and acknowledging an other person’s feelings – even if you do not agree with them. She gives some great examples on how true empathy works. When a team member comes to you with a problem, there is a huge difference between saying “I understand how you feel” and “You are feeling hurt because…”.
Knowing how to be compassionate as well as understand and practice empathy is an important part of emotional intelligence.