Technalink is aimed at giving entrepreneurs additional techniques and tools to help them practice compassionate leadership within their own business. But in order to be compassionate, and be genuine about it, it is not enough to simply practice acts of kindness or “being nice.” The action is important, and this is what your employees will see. But the motivation to act kind, the inspiration for compassion at any given time during the workday, that requires understanding the root of compassion. And that means understanding empathy.
It’s About All Of Us
Compassionate leadership, much like an enfp, is, at its foundation, a willingness to lead people with patience and kindness because you’ve “been there.” And that feeling of having “been there” is because of empathy. Empathy is the ability to look at another person and emotionally identify with them, and understand what kind of feelings they must be having. It is empathy that makes most of us cry at the tearful, emotional scenes of a very good movie or book. That heartbreak or confession of love isn’t happening to us, personally, right now, so why are we crying? We cry because we are moved. We understand what that person is going through in that moment, we relate to what their emotional state must be like, and so, because of that understanding, our own emotions guide is in that moment.
This is how compassionate leadership works. It isn’t about doing something kind for employees that day because you scheduled an act of kindness. It is about noticing that an employee is having a tough day, remembering the tough days you’ve had, reliving that unpleasant emotional state, and realizing that’s what your employee is experiencing right now. Then it is about remembering how, during that point in your life, you wish someone had provided kindness and guidance and realizing that today, for your employee, you can bring that moment.
Natural compassionate leadership comes from empathy. Without understanding what others are going through, it is much more difficult to find the right moment for kindness, or firmness, advice, or knowing that now is the time to let that person have some time alone to think. This is why it is so important to actually cultivate your empathy. It helps you not only with your needs for compassionate leadership, it can help you to better understand other business people, clients, and many people you meet and interact with throughout your journey into entrepreneurship.
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