COMPASSIONATE LEADERSHIP IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW.

In a recent executive roundtable I presented a leadership model developed by Brad Shuck. It was a heart-felt and gut-wrenching discussion. Executives talked about the deaths of coworkers and customers from COVID, the stress is having an impact on the lives of families including an increase in divorce, and of the challenges related to working with their teams and engaging their customers:

· Leading “above the line” was important before the pandemic but is essential now. The six behaviors have always been important, but in the midst of this crisis are even more important. Our research shows that employees who believe their manager is leading with compassion are more engaged and inspired in these difficult times.

· Although leading with compassion is critical right now, it is getting harder. The increase in more remote employees, the challenges of helping “essential workers” be safe and to succeed are just two of the additional issues facing leaders.

Our leaders need help.

Stop thinking about leadership development as “something we’ll do when we don’t have anything else to do” and start thinking about it as a key to the ability of the organization to succeed in these changing times.

Because, you see, it does.