Six Ways to Manage with Compassionate Leadership

How much does compassionate management impact employees’ motivation?  Research suggests the impact is significant. The Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence developed ways to measure the emotional intelligence of managers at various workplaces. They found that employees whose supervisors score low on emotional intelligence and compassion say they feel motivated only about 25% of the time, whereas employees whose supervisors score high on emotional intelligence feel motivated about 75% of the time. That amounts to a huge difference in productivity for organizations.

The takeaway for organizations is clear: managers who excel at recognizing and expressing emotions, while demonstrating compassion, have a significant impact on the productivity of their teams. The good news is that contrary to what some may believe, compassionate leadership can be taught to managers by adopting the right kind of training and then holding managers accountable. At Microsoft, this is modeled from the top down starting with CEO Satya Nadella. Nadella has repeatedly said, “My personal philosophy and my passion … is to connect new ideas with a growing sense of empathy for other people.” His message to Microsoft’s managers is clear: empathetic leadership leads to understanding and collaboration, which helps spur innovation.

Over the last decade, Microsoft has incorporated well-being-oriented leadership behaviors such as empathy into its leadership training. Manager training programs can easily incorporate compassionate leadership practices. While compassionate leadership may come more easily to some than others, any manager can strengthen their competency in compassionate leadership by consistently adopting practices which draw upon the dimensions of compassionate leadership.

But what exactly does a compassionate manager need to do to achieve these results? There are six critical dimensions of compassionate leadership: demonstrating empathy, communicating openly, placing focus on employee physical and mental health and well-being, practicing inclusiveness, and operating with integrity, respect and dignity.

(Editor’s note: The author has combined integrity—the sixth critical dimension—with respect and dignity in the list below.)

Dimensions of Compassionate Leadership

1. Empathy is central as it requires leaders to understand and resonate with their employees’ emotions, especially during times of distress. This understanding is not just emotional but also involves taking meaningful actions to support employees, which helps build trust and a compassionate culture​.
2. Compassionate leaders foster a transparent environment where honest, clear, and consistent communication is prioritized. This type of communication helps reduce employee anxiety, particularly in challenging situations and times of change.
3. Compassionate leaders also focus on their employees’ physical and mental well-being, ensuring balanced workloads, psychological support, and a physically and psychologically safe working environment.
4. Inclusiveness is another element of compassionate leadership, emphasizing the importance of involving employees at all levels in decision-making and recognizing their contributions.
5. Integrity and respect round out the core dimensions, with the expectation that leaders act ethically, keep promises, and treat employees with dignity.

Ways to Implement Compassionate Leadership

In adopting the practices outlined below, managers can build a greater culture of compassion in their organizations. This creates not only a safer, more open workplace where employees feel comfortable being themselves but also a more productive and innovative one. Examples of compassionate leadership include:

Schedule Check-ins With Genuine Interest

Instead of generic conversations with employees, managers should schedule weekly or biweekly one-on-one check-ins with each direct report. During these meetings, managers should focus solely on understanding team members’ challenges and perspectives. For instance, if an employee is struggling with a project, managers should ask open-ended questions like, “How can I support you?” or “What challenges are you facing, and how can we work through them together?” This practice ensures that empathy is not just a passive feeling but a tangible part of a manager’s approach​ during the most important opportunity for manager-team member interaction.

When a team member is speaking, managers must stop everything else, focus entirely on them, and tune into not just their team member’s words but also their body language, tone, and emotional cues. This helps managers create stronger connections and makes the employee feel heard and valued.

Openly Share Both Wins and Challenges in Team Meetings

Managers should incorporate an open communication style into regular team meetings by dedicating a specific segment of standing team members to share updates, both positive and negative. For example, if the company is facing financial difficulties or if a project is behind schedule, managers should communicate this clearly rather than hiding the information or being unclear about the situation. They should then follow up with action plans or solutions, so employees feel they are part of the process and have a role in overcoming challenges.

Implement “Wellness Breaks” and Tune into Needs of Struggling Employees

To actively support employee well-being, managers should integrate wellness practices into the team’s routine. For instance, they should encourage 10–15-minute wellness breaks throughout the day where employees can step away from work to recharge—whether it’s a walk, meditation, or stretching. Also, if an employee seems overwhelmed or is struggling, they should recommend taking a day off or reassigning tasks to balance workloads.

Rotate Team Roles in Meetings

Managers should be encouraged to promote inclusivity by rotating leadership roles on team projects. For example, each week they should strive to assign a different team member to lead a project discussion or decision-making process. This helps employees at all levels feel valued and gives everyone an opportunity to actively contribute their ideas. In this way, they actively create a more inclusive culture where everyone’s voice matters.

Set Clear, Measurable Team Expectations and Follow Through

Integrity is about keeping promises and aligning actions with words. In practice, this means managers should be expected to set clear, measurable expectations for their team members. Integrity means being dependable and owning commitments. For instance, if a manager promises the team that a new initiative or process will be launched by a certain date, they need to communicate regularly about progress—whether things are on track or if there are delays.  And they need to establish mutual accountability by setting clear, measurable expectations for each team member and regularly reviewing progress in one-on-one check-ins.

Personalized Team Member Recognition

At the beginning of each team meeting, managers should spend five minutes acknowledging specific contributions from team members. For example, they might say, “I want to highlight Sam for his excellent work on the project report tracker this week.”  Managers should tailor recognition to each team members’ individual’s strengths and efforts. This fosters a sense of respect and dignity, reinforcing that each person’s contributions are valued​.

Leaders who exhibit empathy, transparency, inclusiveness, and integrity help create an environment where employees feel supported, valued, and more engaged in their work. Organizations that prioritize compassionate leadership will cultivate a workplace culture that empowers employees while also driving long-term growth.

Heide Abelli is the co-founder of SageX Inc., an AI-enabled e-Coaching and performance support application for the modern workforce and she recently authored “You Got This! – The Ultimate Career Guide for the Modern Professional”. She is an accomplished executive who prior to SageX has held senior leadership positions at leading educational technology and training providers such as Skillsoft and Harvard Business Publishing where she developed award-winning, ground-breaking corporate training solutions. Additionally, she spent nearly a decade teaching Gen Z students as an Adjunct Professor of Management at Boston College. She is a seasoned veteran of product development, innovation and product management in the fields of corporate training and ed tech.

Heide is a globally recognized subject matter expert in the areas of leadership, management, general business skills, the unique skills required for success in the digital economy, employee learning and development and effective corporate training practices.

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