Empathetic leadership is not for the fainthearted. It is always-on, it may be costly in terms of time, and it needs to be trained. But when all is said and done, it is a choice we absolutely need more leaders to make.
If leaders mobilise the full potential of every member of the organisation’s ‘secret army’—people who resolve demos, chase payments, carry out checks, deliver goods, supporting sellers, handle logistics and deliveries, address queries, and resolve technical glitches—then they can come out stronger post COVID-19.
Getting to the top at any cost can be soul-crushing when you feel that you are sacrificing personal and family time for work, sacrificing relationships to get that promotion, and so on. It can lead to a breakdown, burnout and adversely affect your performance.
Busting the following myths:MYTH 1: I am not a creative personMYTH 2: You need to wait for lightning to strike to beMYTH 3: Creativity is too expensiveMYTH 4: Creativity will not help me in my business/industry/careerMYTH 5: It is not the stuff of the serious business person
A look at HDFC Bank’s foray into rural India and how it navigated with relative ease by clearly
Cultivating emotional resilience is a leader’s number one job in these disruptive times. A leader’s ability to cultivate emotional resilience in oneself and others is to be a hope merchant.
Those with emotional resilience at the core of their management philosophy will emerge as resourceful leaders when the going gets tough. Good leaders that use emotional resilience consistently at the core of their management philosophy demonstrate adequate dynamism when crisis arrives.
Workplaces across the globe are undergoing transformation at breakneck speeds; and while digital acceleration continues to take place, leaders need to simultaneously prepare for imminent change in the context of employee productivity, employee engagement, rewards and recognition programmes, and overall organisational well-being.
Every human being has many different layers. The deeper you are able to go, the better you will understand yourself. This is also called ‘emotional resilience’. The more resilient you are, the better prepared you will be to handle challenges.
Humans love tradition and it has value. What has even more impact are the intentional connections you build and the way you attend to your culture as it is vulnerable. The trust you build from the efforts can become the new cultural norm.
Leaders need to be capable on both frontstage and backstage. Such resourcefulness would come in handy, especially during disruptive times.
Busting the following mythsMyth 1: It’s all about the moneyMyth 2: A concession means giving up somethingMyth 3: Never give up something without getting something in returnMyth 4: The person who talks first losesMyth 5: Our people already have a basic understanding of how to negotiate