In our opinion it is a bit of a shame that it took a global health crisis to shift the tone of great leadership towards compassion and empathy, but it seems these qualities weren’t really recognised as brilliant leadership traits until recently, or is that just my skewed view?
Either way I think it’s cause for celebration, and any leaders wondering how to evolve their communication at the moment should turn their attention to these qualities of compassion and empathy.
To fuse these traits into your communication style here are a few things to focus on.
Increase 1-1 conversations:
Everyone has been weathering the same storm, but we’ve not all been in the same boat, and we’re not all wired in the same way to ride the waves. Leaders must try to remember that and treat everyone as individuals to get the best out of them, allowing lots of time to check in with their team members on a 1-1 basis. It is still important to keep high level group comms updates as regular as possible through emails, video messages, and ideally face to face meetings, but don’t only rely on these channels and do ensure you regularly have personalised conversations too.
Open Questions:
When having your 1-1 catch ups with your employees, remember that the goal is for them to talk more than you. Not always easy for some leaders, so if that sounds like you then one little tip is to remember to ask open questions, typically these are lots of how and why questions. Anything they can reply to with a yes/no answer is not an open question.
Active Listening:
Remember as you just read, that the goal of your 1-1’s is to get your employee talking, and that’s because as human beings we like to be heard and feel understood. Your role then is to practice active listening, pay close attention to their words and not thinking about what you’re about to say next or what you’re going to have for lunch. As well as the words try your best to interpret their tone, posture, facial expressions and body language. This can be especially difficult to do over zoom, but my advice is not to be afraid of a longer than usual pause or silence, allow that space for thoughts to form and tune directly into how they respond. On zoom although it can be harder, don’t forget to tune into other small details which may help you show your empathetic side.
If you’re new to leadership or you have new middle management in your company that need some support, then why not sign up to our 4 week leadership training course, it’s 4 x 1 hour sessions over 4 week and teaches some of the soft skills needed for modern day leadership. Get in touch hello@strive-agency.co.uk.
