04/26/2018

Why Compassionate Directness Is the Most Successful Way to Lead

Strong leaders understand their employees' emotional lives

A Q&A with Mandy O’Neill, Ph.D., associate professor of management at the George Mason University School of Business. 

Thrive Global: Why is it more effective to lead with compassion and empathy?
Mandy O’Neill: Compassion is recognition of others’ suffering. Empathy is feeling what others are feeling. In speaking about why it’s effective, it’s helpful to think about what the alternative to those emotions is.

Workplaces struggle with emotions like anxiety and anger. It’s important to note that the opposite of compassion and empathy is not anxiety or anger. It’s something closer to indifference. That’s an important distinction. Leading with empathy and compassion involves a recognition of others’ perspectives, and some of that includes embracing the negative emotions people are experiencing in the workplace. Leading in this way is more effective, because it gives leaders a unique insight into the emotional lives of their employees, which often includes a lot of painful emotions that can be impediments to them being their best at work and doing their best work.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Thrive Global.