Cultivate compassionate leadership in turbulent times

The pressures brought to bear by the COVID-19 pandemic have meant an increase in stress, anxiety and mental illnesses across the spectrum, for people the world over. “In our dramatically changed world, mental health is not the private space it once may have been. This goes for all of us – including leaders and employees,” says psychotherapist Louisa Niehaus, who also specialises in trauma therapy.

• Listen now as Louisa explains cultivating compassionate leadership in this 8-minute podcast:

• DID YOU KNOW that this episode is one of many podcasts in Discovery’s “Understanding COVID-19” podcast series? Visit our COVID-19 podcast hub and click on COVID-19 and the changing world of work for this episode and more like it!

The world as a collective is experiencing and reacting to a mass trauma

“In the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the world as a collective is experiencing and reacting to a trauma. This trauma and our reactions to it have spread into every aspect of our lives – including our work,” explains Louisa. “Ultimately, we are all human beings having a human experience, and that makes compassion fundamental at this time.”

More and more people are transitioning towards a blend of working from home and being at the workplace. In this light, how might we all cope better, bearing in mind the collective trauma we are experiencing?

“Many employees are transitioning back to the workplace in full, or they’re experiencing a blend of time in the office and working from home,” says Louisa. “Those working from home are also juggling the personal and professional demands of this environment. Our careers and our work are a fundamental part of our daily lives. Considering the amount of time we dedicate to work every day, our work-related experiences and interactions with leaders in the business can strongly define our sense of wellbeing at work and in life in general. Compassionate leadership can go a long way in helping employees through crisis or times of challenge and transition.”

Cultivating a compassionate workplace

Louisa suggests that leaders focus on the following:

• Make space for vulnerability: All of us are vulnerable to the ebbs and flows of life and to trauma. Naming and bringing attention to emotions reduces tension and, ultimately, opens the door to addressing them. “The ability to express your vulnerability to a peer group in a context that feels safe will allow you to be more aware of vulnerability in others and to understand it.” And, the same goes for work: expressing our vulnerability in an appropriate setting, to a trusted leader also allows for more authentic working relationships. Leaders should make employees feel that they can share their vulnerabilities without fear of repercussion, and create an environment in which people will seek constructive solutions wherever possible.
• Allow for self-awareness: We all need to have a sense of how we are experiencing life and how we are reacting to a changing work environment and the world. In this way, we can separate ourselves from reacting to others. “If we are aware that we express anxiety as frustration, we will better able to identify when we are experiencing anxiety, as opposed to merely feeling frustrated at colleagues or at work,” says Louisa.
• Practise vulnerability and self-awareness: Being self-aware and vulnerable fosters empathy. “Self-awareness, in particular, equips us to be more empathic and understanding when we see staff or colleagues display uncharacteristic behaviours. Corporate culture and identity are often rooted in mirroring the behaviour of those around us, especially the behaviour of management, who serve as influential role models for compassionate acts and who can demonstrate care for people’s basic needs,” explains Louisa. “We can reenergise our work environments by showing interest in the welfare of others, by checking in with colleagues and families, by expressing gratitude with words or small tokens of appreciation, and by publicly recognising compassionate acts by others. It’s really difficult for employees who are preoccupied with meeting their basic needs to focus on productivity. At this time, we need to truly focus on sympathy and empathy. This includes understanding the need for extended annual or sick leave, people’s desire or need to work from home, and the complexities of home-schooling. Other factors to consider are the challenges faced by single-parent households, staff working in relative isolation, and staff being at high risk of severe illness if exposed to COVID-19.”

“Compassion ultimately defines us as humans,” adds Louisa. “It’s the process of suffering together; of being confronted with another’s suffering and feeling motivated to help them to relieve it.”

Some studies show that compassion actually has evolutionary roots. We are wired to be compassionate because this allows us to feel deeply connected to others – even those who may be very different from us. Compassion therefore allows us to connect with others, and this promotes the survival of the human species.

“At this point in our collective experience of life and the world, practising compassion and kindness will go a long way in allowing us to connect with others in the workplace in a much more meaningful way. This will not only allow leaders to alleviate the tensions they might feel in the current context, but it will also alleviate the anxiety and suffering in those they lead.”