Why Empathy is the key to leadership
I used to get told to be less emotional and show less empathy as a young female leader, when surrounded by older male colleagues
I obviously worked out that my EMPATHY, AWARENESS AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE were in fact HOW I was going to become a good leader and create impact. And in fact, how this is AS important (if not more so) than simply knowing your shit at work.
I’ve been working on this a lot with my clients over the last week. Women who want to step into their bigger game in their organisations. And who are sometimes held back by focusing on the practical skills they think they don't have and not leveraging their powers
So I'm sharing 8 key things here to leverage and develop in your leadership skills that all starts with inner work, and reminding us all to celebrate our natural strengths
1. EMPATHY IS EVERYTHING
The ability to relate to others from a paradigm of trust, rather than one of fear and coming at everything trying to understand someone’s position and where they are coming from is key to leading, influencing and creating change
2. BECOME AWARE
Of ourselves. Of other people. In particular, get hyper aware of YOU. Your patterns, tendencies, triggers, biases, internal thoughts, feelings, values, beliefs. Only then, can we consciously choose responses, rather than reacting. Allowing us to self- manage and overcome our inner obstacles that are going to allow us to reach our potential
3. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
For owning the energy you put out, how you show up, how you respond to everything around you. And communicating your boundaries and what you want. As well for creating change internally. This can be game-changing.
4. UNDERSTAND WHAT TRIGGERS YOU
emotionally and becoming aware and conscious of how you can choose to respond in a way that’s more effective and will have more impact. Especially important when navigating the ‘games’ that will invariably play out through life.
5. WORK ON YOUR SELF-BELIEF.
We ALL experience self-doubt every day. But we can practice overcoming these limiting thoughts. Start becoming conscious of negative thoughts, and ‘stories’ holding you back. And practicing replacing with more useful ones. Your uniqueness, your strengths. Your achievement. Your values . Your talent.
6 CREATE THE CONDITIONS FOR THE BEST VERSION OF YOU
Become aware and understand what you need to feel positive, to be in the right mindset, to stay resilience. Whether this is yoga, getting up early, having your cheerleaders around you, being prepared. Understand yourself. Create rituals. Practice. Repeat.
7. WORK ON YOUR VISIBILTY.
Create a strategy around this. Decide how you want to show up. What you want your personal brand to be. Become conscious around your. Body language. Decide who can help you and collect your cheerleaders and advocates.
8 CHOOSE TO ADOPT A GROWTH MINDSET
Start to become aware of your comfort zone and the payback it gives you. Start to think about the benefits of getting out of it and practice doing this in a way that has some safety attached. Start thinking about what could be possible, what could right and what assumptions you might be making. Ask yourself WHAT IF.