We Need Leaders Who Have More Empathy and Compassion

It shows concern about the human being

In a keynote speech delivered at John Maxell’s Live2Lead event in 2016, Simon Sinek explained that there are two things great leaders need to have: Empathy and perspective.

I couldn’t agree more.

My last corporate gig was at Google; I worked there for three years until I decided it was time for me to leave and take a different path in life.

Part of this decision was rooted in my desire to dive into the world entrepreneurship, while another was rooted in a desperate need to step away from a negative build-up of personal experiences that exposed me to the alarming lack of empathy and human authenticity of certain leaders.

From one side, I felt like I was just another number, a speck of data on the board. As an Account Manager, my portfolio name was HC1A, so whenever the Director reviewed the weekly revenue dashboards, he would spot mine and ask, “Why is HC1A in the red this quarter?”

I can understand that this was a strategy created to conceal identities, but at the same, it makes us much less human since our identity is reduced to a mere digital number void of any emotion.

Perhaps that’s the reason why the very definition of what it means to be a leader gets muddled — it breeds a leadership culture that is more concerned about the output than the human being behind that number. And so leaders lose perspective on what it means to have empathy and compassion.

As Simon Sinek went on to explain in his talk:

“The real job of a leader is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in our charge… Empathy is being concerned about the human being not just their output.”

One time, I walked into the director’s office explaining how my numbers were low due to unforeseen financial troubles my clients were facing — two of the biggest media agencies I managed at the time had each lost their single biggest client (each of which accounted for a significant portion of my portfolio revenue).

The Director looked at me with a smirk, lifted a kleenex box, and handed it over to me… As if to signal that it was best to shut up, stop whining, and get back to work.

Yes, it was so rude and insulting. I was left alone to fight onward. And this was just a few months after I came out of a traumatic accident and subsequent surgery. Despite my struggles, there was no empathy or compassion. No concern about the human being behind the number… And definitely no sign of human-to-human interaction.

The business world needs leaders who understand what it means to have empathy and compassion.

In a recent edition of Jim Antonopoulos’s The Weekly Journal of Creative Leadership newsletter, he introduced me to the Zulu word of Sawubona.

In Zulu, ‘Sawubona’ is the word for hello, but it also means ‘I see you.’

It means that I see you beyond the title or the labels. I see you beyond the race or position, beyond the numbers and dashboards. I see you as you are, a human being.

Sawubona is what Jim described as:

“The bridge that we as leaders can build — from the rigid to the agile. From the way we hold back, to the way we can see, and allow others to see. An ability it seems often lost in the corporate world we all journey through. This simple ability to see one another without the facades of titles and accolades, suits and letters after our names.”

If our leaders can learn what it means to see one another as people — what it means to have empathy and compassion — wouldn’t that penetrate the fickle facade of emotionless resilience and inauthenticity some are hiding behind?

What if instead of seeing employees as numbers, we saw them for what they are — people with emotions, struggles, ambitions, and stories? What if, instead of questing their performance, we stopped to ask them how they feel? What if, we simply practiced Sawubona?

I see you.

I acknowledge you.

I understand you.

How can I help you?

What if — and to borrow Simon Sinek’s example — instead of approaching an employee to say “your numbers have been down for the third quarter in a row, you have to do pick up your numbers, otherwise I can’t guarantee what the future will look like,” we approach them with this: “Your numbers have been down for the third quarter in a row, are you okay? I’m worried about you. What’s going on?”

Wouldn’t that be beautiful?

Wouldn’t that be more inspiring and encouraging?

Wouldn’t that make us more human?

A Call For All Leaders

This is a call for leaders in all positions to look inward and ask themselves:

“How I can bring more authentic love, gratitude, and respect toward every single member of my team? How can I expand my perspective, compassionatly?”

Especially toward employees whose performance is in decline. Wouldn’t empathy empower them with the compassionate resilience to carry onward and bring that authenticity forward themselves? Wouldn’t that make them feel more cared for instead of driving them to walk out in disappointment?

The business world needs leaders who cast away the shadows so that team members feel a greater sense of support. This allows members to work from a place of fullness and self-believe, not desperation and fear.

The secret is empathy and compassion — they make us more human. The secret is Sawubona; a greeting of beauty and courage that fills us with the strength to carry onward, sparked by the knowledge that we are truly seen.

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