Practising compassion in your teams
A critical skill set of positively impactful leaders is emotional intelligence (EI). Whether intuitive or developed through deliberate practice, emotionally intelligent leaders recognise, understand and positively influence their emotions and the emotional vibe within their team.
As a leader, being able to step into the shoes of others, both individuals and well as our teams and to see things from their experience and emotional perspective is a game changer.
GENOS Model of Emotional Intelligence
The GENOS model of Emotional Intelligence refers to this skill as Emotional Awareness of Others. It is the skill of being aware of, and understanding others. There are a number of skills in the GENOS model, but this skill is super-critical for leaders.
It does involve our capacity to be:
* aware, but not judgemental
* caring and not dismissive or overly responsible
* appreciative and accepting of our differences
* understanding of the different journeys we each have, which lead to our different experiences and responses
“One of the best things we can do as leaders is to intentionally cultivate compassion within our team.”
You are an expert in compassion! Are you practising compassion with your teams?
Health and community sector professionals are experts in compassion. It is almost impossible to be in our industry without having compassion for our clients. For many of us it is what brings us into the field. We also acutely know that compassion is what helps us connect with and positively influence our clients.
Compassion for our colleagues
The idea of intentionally extending compassion to our colleagues and teams might be unfamiliar. We are so focussed on the benefit of compassion for clients, but we often think of our colleagues (and ourselves) as not needing compassion. We're tough, strong and stoic. But we need compassion and so does every colleague we work with.
Truth is, we never know what battles our colleagues are facing professionally or personally. We all have a backstory and we all experience personal and professional challenges. We can meet each other on one of our best days or one of our worst days and we have no way of knowing this, unless we have the skills and willingness to share this.
Practical exercises to help cultivate compassion
One of the best things we can do as leaders is to intentionally cultivate compassion within our team. Below are some easy exercises to help you get started. These work well in virtual and in-person environments and can be used as often as needed.
Appreciation Rounds: Encourage team members to say or write down one thing they appreciate about a colleague and then ask that colleague to pass it on. Appreciation doesn’t have to just be about the big moments; it can also be the small everyday things that make a difference.
‘Wow Moment’ Exercise: ‘Wow moments’ invite us to highlight the positive actions and behaviours of others that have made a difference in our day. Teams can write these down and add them to a ‘wow moments’ box that is read out in meetings or handed to the individuals they relate to. Ask teams to think about something someone did that made them think, “wow, that was so good!”
One-Word Emotional Check-Ins: If your team is reasonably psychologically safe, you can ask team members to share one word that describes their emotional mindset at the start of the work day/shift. This quickly lets others know how we’re feeling and can boost support amongst teams for those who need it
‘Raise Your Hand If …’ Exercise: This exercise can help teams feel reassured and ‘seen’ when they might need it most - when they make a mistake. Encouraging individuals to talk about how a mistake has impacted them and inviting others to ‘raise their hand’ if they would feel the same way is a great visual exercise that can have a lot of impact.
Compassion and awareness of others are critical skills of emotional intelligence and go hand-in-hand for leaders.