“Compassion’ is not a word often bandied about in locker rooms. But I’ve found that a few kind, thoughtful words can have a strong transformative effect on relationships, even with the toughest men in the room.” Compassion breaks down barriers among people.
– Phil Jackson, Coach, Chicago Bulls (1989 – 1998)
I was motivated to write a post on this topic as it became a talking point in one of the books that I was reading which is Trillion Dollar Coach by Eric Schmidt.
Since I call myself a Student of Leadership, I get a lot of interests in reading different styles of Leadership. It also led me to read / watch / listen to Leaders or understand from their autobiography how they went around building their company or their country.
I personally admire the Leadership qualities of Lee Kuan Yew (LKY) of Singapore and how he pulled a whole generation out of poverty and built the city of what it is today.
I thought of Leaders as being tough and angry and fanatic about their goals. However, I found that they can be all this but in a more humane way. That I think is Compassionate Leadership.
Why Compassion?
Employees are forced to think of the management in general and the leader in particular as somebody with whom they should play hardball. It is mostly about extracting the largest pie or saving yourself from exploitation.
I dont reject this argument either. Founders / Management push their employees to achieve targets, improve efficiency even at the expense of their family life. At the same time, employees often see the managers / owners getting wealthy.
The current Pandemic has shown why this is so true as there are large scale lay-offs and employees forced to take compulsory pay cut. This has been seen especially in companies which had good balance sheets.
So how do we bridge this mistrust that comes naturally between an employee and the company? How do you inspire your team members to stick with your organization through tough times?
It is by having positive intentions for your team members and a real concern about them will you create trust. This is what I call Compassionate Leadership.
Compassionate Leadership
Compassionate Leadership is not just about Empathizing with others. It is more than that. It is about setting an example before your team. It is about influencing your team by displaying integrity (Congruency in thoughts, words and actions).
It is also about finding out what is best for your team members and communicating it to them in a way that uplifts them and inspires them to think in the best interest of the organization.
Compassionate Leadership involves the Leader to think in the best interests of the team members. Leaders might have to give some tough feedback to the employees to motivate them to beat their best. Leaders might also have to take decisions that might not be appreciated by the team but it is in the best interests of the organization.
Last week, I had the opportunity to host few Leaders from the Commune ILEAD. Leaders were kind enough to visit my Factory premises and tried to learn more about my challenges.
I posed my challenge of how to motivate my team members to improve production efficiency. Shyam Sir made me realize how everybody wants to see some role models which they can look up to. He asked me if I would be able to increase Sales which can set an example before my team.
I was pushing my team members to increase production. I was also getting angry and frustrated when the goals were not met. Also, this brought a lot of negative energy to the table.
Even if the team members try some ways to increase production, this is not something that could be sustained in the long run. Also, it might force them to push for higher wages, increased staff strength and more leeway going ahead.
By becoming a Role Model, you are indirectly communicating to them about your accountability. You are influencing them in ways that would help them increase their commitment for the greater good of the organization.
Examples
A great example of Compassionate Leadership is that of Bill Campbell, Coach for greats like Steve Jobs of Apple as well as Sergey Brin, Larry Page of Google.
Bill loved shining the spotlight on others but preferred to stay in the shadows himself. [1]
All his life, Bill showed how you can improve your success by making as many people successful. Bill believed in his teams, gave them freedom and knew when to correct them. Bill practiced compassion which led him to be so successful as a coach. [Read book ‘Seeing Organizations Differently: Three lenses on Compassion’].
Another example that I could think of is Phil Jackson, Coach of Chicago Bulls from 1989 – 1998. Phil Jackson led Chicago Bulls to their 6 League Championships having a team that consisted of greats such as Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman.
Phil Jackson gave every person on the team the leadership role and kept all the team members guided by the team’s vision. Read here to look more into the mind of Phil Jackson.
End Note
Compassion might not be the most sought after quality in Leaders as compared to Goal Achievement or Ambition. But all said and done, Leaders must work with teams that comprises of real people and not machines. And people have emotions.
So if you are unable to connect with your teams on a personal level, you might not be able to get the best out of them.
Also, Compassion leads to creation of trust and feeling of fraternity that ultimately drives people to achieve goals for the common good of the organization.
Hope this post would have brought a new perspective to this style of leadership which is what we might need in the years of come.
“Compassion. Transformation”
~RG~