Hello and welcome to my blog!
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In this edition, I focus on my recent DisruptHR talk, as both the event and the topic may be of interest to many of you in the world of HR, senior leadership and workplace wellbeing.
Disrupt HR is a global events organisation, which welcomes new, refreshing and ‘disruptive’ ideas to the world of HR.
Many months ago, I saw they were looking for speakers in Edinburgh, and it really caught my attention. So, before I knew it I found myself on ‘stage’ at the beautiful The Scotch Whisky Experience in Edinburgh.
I pitched my idea in an initial chat with the lovely people at Hunter Adams, then we had a ‘run-through’ a couple of weeks prior to the event. In the couple of months before the talk, I scheduled 1 hour a week to write then practice my talk.
Then I had some ideas about props and before I know it, I am standing on the stage with Billy Connolly!
My talk was titled: Is Compassionate Leadership Just Sweet, Soft and Fluffy? A Day In The Life Of A Leader Who DARES To Care.
The leader in question is called ‘Billy’ and he is a senior leader in finance. He is passionate about people, and he knows that well looked after employees, will always boost profit and productivity.
So I recruited a famous Billy to capture some attention, and bring a little humour to my talk.
It is a topic very close to my heart as a lack of compassionate leadership impacted me in previous roles. I can very easily remember the feeling. I am on a mission to make work better for everyone. One person at a time, anyway!
Let’s cut to the chase.
Here are a few key points I make in my talk:
Employees who feel their leaders demonstrate compassion are up to x 2.5 more engaged at work (Centre for Creative Leadership)
Employees who regularly feel listened to are up to x 4.6 more likely to be engaged at work (Gallup)
Looking after people looks after profit and organisational performance EVEN if it feels counter intuitive initially. By counter intuitive, I mean slow or it does not feel directly related to profit making activities such as lead generation, sales and marketing. But it is the PEOPLE who are behind each of these activities.
Billy knows that LISTENING - real, proper, active listening - is the KEY to building trust and leading in a truly compassionate way. He ensures everyone feels seen, heard, valued and understood.
Billy also knows that he must engage in SELF-CARE and seek his own support, in order to support everyone else. Yes, we are talking the empty cup or oxygen mask analogy here.
Billy is comfortable with being vulnerable, imperfect, tired or stressed around his team. He does not try to PRETEND that all is okay. Of course, this is within reason about what he is comfortable to share. Importantly, he role models normal human feelings to his team. That is the key here.
‘Empathy is being concerned about the human being, not just their output’
Simon Sinek
❤️ Owning our mistakes in relationships is also demonstrating compassion
The key attributes of a compassionate leader are:
Active listener
Curious
Courage
Empathy
Helping
Attending
Understanding
I received some lovely messages and feedback after the event. It was also lovely to hear all the other speakers, and the variety of topics. Keep your eyes peeled for the next Disrupt HR event in Edinburgh.
You will see I have set a compassion challenge in the image - let me know if you are taking part and I will ask you how you are getting on, as your accountability partner!
I look forward to future conversations, talks and workshops that I participate in.
Let me know your thoughts, and do get in touch if I can help you and your team.
Compassionate leadership is rooted in science, but is not rocket science. We can ALL do it better.
Thank you,
Elaine
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