Mindful Leadership: Techniques for Leading with Empathy and Compassion

We spend so much time trying to be competitive, but are we ever actually being competitive? In fact, the most successful leaders are usually far from this mentality.


Instead, mindful leadership is all about treating people kindly and showing them respect. It helps them develop trust in their leaders and give them the confidence they need to succeed.

Empathy and compassion are two essential components of mindful leadership. This post covers both concepts in detail and explains why being more aware of your own emotions is beneficial.

Compassion

One of the most effective ways to manage the emotions of others is through empathy. When we feel empathy, it means we have experienced some part of another person's emotion.

Being empathic means we can recognize and respond to another person's needs without needing to interpret their behavior. It's much easier to do this with people who have positive emotions. Being empathic with negative emotions takes practice.

Empathy

While empathizing with others can be a very powerful tool for leading, it also has drawbacks. Most importantly, it comes with its own challenges.

Being compassionate towards others is good, but you'll often be asked to deal with situations that upset or frustrate you. The flipside of this is that you can get burned out if you take on too many challenging tasks.

A common example of this is the "empathizer-executor". Someone who gets emotionally involved in every situation they encounter and does everything they can to try to help.

A well-known empathizer-executor is Oprah Winfrey. The downside of her approach is that when she doesn't feel like it, she'll let her guard down and show weakness. It's not uncommon for her to be criticized for her emotional nature, especially by men.

A much more useful approach is the "executor-empathizer". People with this mindset have the ability to emotionally disconnect from situations while still being fully present and aware. They know how to control and avoid emotional reactivity while being empathic with other people.

To find out which type you are, try this simple test. Imagine a situation where you're struggling with an issue. Think of a scenario where you're in trouble or feeling helpless, angry or sad. Describe the emotions you feel right now.

If you struggle with identifying your emotions, it's likely you're an empathizer-executor. If you're able to identify the specific emotions you're feeling in a specific scenario, you may be an executor-empathizer.

Mindful Leadership: Techniques for Leading with Empathy and Compassion

Leadership isn't something that can be taught. It's something that must come from within.

We all want to be compassionate and empathetic, but many of us have difficulty doing this on a daily basis. Here are some techniques for being mindful and compassionate while leading others.

Practice Being Present with Yourself

You need to practice taking a moment to breathe deeply and notice your emotions. As soon as you notice how you