Our last blog focused on Gallup’s research on what followers look for in their leaders. When Gallup polled 10,000 followers and asked them what they most wanted in their leaders, the qualities of trust, hope, stability and compassion surprised them. Compassion is an English noun with Latin roots which means “deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it”. While early philosophers believed that pathos (the Greek word for emotion) was inferior to the logos (logic or reason). Today, philosophers, social scientists and even business leaders are realizing that humanity depends on both emotion and logic to sustain itself.
As leaders, our followers want us to show compassion, to be compassionate. In this way, we not only to show empathy for what they go through, but we are to see the opportunity to solve or relieve the suffering. What an awesome responsibility! So ask yourself, what have you done to alleviate the problems of your team:
- Conflict among team members
- The bully among the group
- The blame game that creates winners and losers
- Work life balance
- Increasing workloads with less support
- Lack of clarity around roles
- Lack of clarity around decision making
Any of these issues can be causing pain or suffering on your teams right now prohibiting the team’s natural desire to perform at it’s best. What will you do to show more compassion on your team?