It may come as no surprise that toxic leaders create discord among employees, which leads to a dysfunctional working environment. For this reason, compassionate leaders are better positioned to experience harmony and cohesiveness creating an efficient and effective working environment. 

We strive for the latter. Read on for some tips on how to lead your team with compassion.

How to be a compassionate leader

To be an effective, compassionate leader, you need to develop your own personality and characteristics. Compassionate leaders need to cultivate and master these five qualities to ensure success:

1. Empathy

It is important to be able to understand and share the feelings of your team. You can develop this ability by being genuine in your attempt to understand what your team is feeling. Do this by putting yourself in their position.

2. Sympathy

Caring about the well-being of your team is the first step to providing them with the best. Find out what satisfies their needs and use sympathy to motivate them to achieve.

3. Consideration

Show careful thought by avoiding unnecessary discomfort or harm. Being considerate of your team’s presence sets the working relationship standard for how everyone should treat one another. Mutual respect should be the baseline of your working environment which will lead to increased loyalty and trust.

4. Understanding

Compassionately perceive the behaviours of your team. It is important to understand that conflicts will exist, but this can be a positive thing as it helps challenge the status quo. As long as you and your team are tolerant and aware of feelings, forgiving any shortcomings along the way, this can be a wonderful working environment. In conflict, ask for open feedback and explanations and use understanding to clarify any misunderstanding.

5. Caring & Concern

Show sincere care and kindness that complements the consideration you have for your team. Being kind and empathising shows that you care. If you show kindhearted concern and make the well-being of your team a priority, your people will notice. Showing concern complements care. As long as all of this is genuinely practised and communicated in a way that helps your team improve, it will be seen as a positive.

Let your team have a little fun

Compassion in leadership also understands that fun, play, and enjoyment are important qualities in an effective team. 

So what are you waiting for?  Download our handy printout below and let us know if you found this helpful!