Why Dedicated Time and Empathy Matter in Leadership.

Last week, I spent time with a senior executive at a mid-size company.

She had some issues bubbling to the surface within one of her teams - more like a cauldron of mud than the bubbles she'd prefer!

As we talked, I wondered if she could experiment with different scenarios and visualise how this would play out.

So, in our conversation, she took the opportunity to practice deep empathy. She looked at how the team members might be experiencing this challenge and what they might want to hear from her—even if they weren't yet confident enough to ask.

She decided that she needed to have individual conversations with each team member so they could express their feelings. This would allow her to gather essential data about what was happening rather than relying on hearsay and rumour.

By the end of our time together, she had three simple questions she wanted to ask each team member.

Crucially, she also had clarity about how she would set the scene for the conversations and how to ensure them of her intent.

One of the things I love most about my work with senior leaders is when they can shift their state beyond the busy and reflect deeply.

Given time to consider scenarios, they always, without fail, come up with insights they'd not thought of previously—generally loaded with learning.

When working with leaders, I start from the principle that they're not broken and don't need me to fix them.

They have all the skills they need to do what needs to happen next.

However, they need more time or space to process their thoughts, and they need someone to ask them questions that could help them uncover their knowledge.

When people are in cognitive overload, their insights are buried deep, and it's incredibly useful to have dedicated time, space, and a trusted relationship to ponder ideas.

I know how much I valued this in my executive roles and how time and trust led to transformation.

Frieda Klotz interviewed the late Prof Sigal Barsade for the MIT Sloan Management Review of Winter 2020. In the article Employee Emotions Aren't Noise - They're Data, Barsade shows that to enhance employee satisfaction and drive performance, companies must thoroughly understand the motivations of their employees and prioritise this aspect of their organisational culture.

I agree, and I add that companies rely on their most senior executives to tune into 'the vibe' (team members' emotions) so they can add this data to the bank of information they need to make decisions.

What's more, leaders can only process what they hear, see, and sense with intentional, dedicated time with a trusted independent advisor.

I hope you get some time to think this fortnight - and may your bubbles be of the joyful kind!