A study completed by Christina Boedker from the Australian School For Business has uncovered a “positive link between productivity and compassionate leadership.”
She studied more than 5600 people across 77 organizations, and found the single greatest influence on profitability and productivity was the ability of a leader to be Compassionate.
Why might that be? Probably because when we feel leadership with compassion we feel genuinely valued and as a result we give discretionary effort without reserve.
Leadership development starts with a leader wanting to be more effective and willing to look at themselves honestly and uncompromisingly, both from the outside-in and from the inside-out. Development is self-driven, the best at achieving this are those without ego who genuinely appreciate the opportunity they have to lead and value more than performance and profit. This is not to say they are not focused or understand that area of responsibility; it just means they achieve it a different way.
At the beginning of the year, I was privileged to experience mBIT, multiple Brain Integration Techniques, when I completed my mBIT coach certification; this further enhanced my understanding how leaders can make better decisions when they fully integrate their multiple brains.
The first thing to consider is that we have in fact more than one brain; our head, heart and gut intelligences inform us in different ways and have different primary functions. When leaders are making their decisions purely from their head brain, they may well be focusing on logic, looking at project plans, thinking about KPI’s and make changes in KRA’s to demonstrate progress. At a tactical level, they may be concentrating on tightening processes and procedures to remove waste and surplus, improve productivity through new working practices and technology. All of which may lead to short term improvements but may also lead to diminishing morale, engagement and progress.
Each of our multiple brains has an area of highest expression. For our head brain it’s creativity, for our Heart brain it’s compassion and for our Gut brain it’s courage. We have all heard expressions like, let’s put our heads together and think of a solution to this problem, and for me the heart of the matter is… or my gut feeling says……
Our opportunity is simple; if you’re in business or are a leader, you want the business to do well, win orders, have good turnover and make a healthy profit. If you are working for a public organization, it’s likely to be your aim to deliver great service and use the resources wisely, delivering best value for money. Both of these require a huge people element; if you want to inspire a fulfilled workforce and be happy yourself make wise decisions.
Wisdom comes from multiple perspectives. As a leader, be brave; conduct that honest, uncompromising scan. If you’re ready – we are too. To deliver great Leadership Decision Making training where we will share pragmatic techniques to align and engage your multiple brains, allowing you to become a compassionate and wise leader in VUCA times.
