Belonging — the belief that we are connected, supported, and respected — is a basic human need. It’s also a critical component of creating cultures that enable everyone to feel included at work. Belonging in the workplace can pave the way for greater individual and organizational performance, innovation, satisfaction, and persistence through challenges.

Most leaders have a rough idea of what belonging is, but the true importance and value of belonging at work is probably more complex than they might imagine. Beyond just “Do I fit in here?” having a sense of belonging in the workplace involves answering multiple questions, such as:

• Can I connect with my peers professionally? Socially?
• Do I trust my peers, supervisors, and leaders?
• Do I feel like my unique perspective and experiences are valued?
• Am I able to share my authentic self?
• Am I free from worries about fitting in?

The Value of Belonging at Work

Research suggests that in the workplace, both belonging and uncertainty about belonging both matter a lot, as they influence everything from job satisfaction and self-esteem to performance and wellbeing.

This is because when everyone consistently feels included and certain that they belong at work, people are more willing to take risks and more comfortable asking for (and giving) help. So part of the value of belonging in the workplace is that it actually helps to encourage more innovation in the organization and fosters innovative mindsets through open communication.

In addition, belonging is linked to increased persistence through challenges, bouncing back after failure, less likelihood to be thrown off by organizational shifts, and reduced employee turnover. For example, in a recent partnership with a leading global automotive organization, our researchers found that employee perceptions of inclusion, belonging uncertainty, and belonging at work were the strongest predictors of turnover intentions, burnout, and work-life balance.

In another study, building connection and belonging with other participants was also highlighted as one of the most valuable outcomes of engaging in leadership development training.

Luckily, research confirms that belonging uncertainty and belonging in the workplace can both be influenced by organizations and their leaders.

By intentionally working to decrease uncertainty around belonging, leaders invite employees to set aside worries, concerns, or stress. Then they no longer have to expend as much energy wondering if they belong at work, and they’re free to contribute to business objectives in a meaningful, productive, and fulfilling way.

The Impact of Uncertainty About Belonging in the Workplace

Belonging & Belonging Uncertainty: 2 Sides of the Same Coin

We often talk about belonging as a single concept of feeling that you fit in. However, feeling as if you belong is only one side of the coin.

Before we can fully understand the value of belonging — and particularly the importance of belonging in the workplace — we must first understand the other side of the coin: a term known as “belonging uncertainty.”

People experience belonging uncertainty when they aren’t consistently sure whether they fit in at work. This vacillating sense of security can arise from feeling different from others around you, either in appearance or cultural experiences. Belonging uncertainty is especially common if employees come from a background that is different from everyone else on the team.

These individuals may worry about being treated negatively based on stereotypes, or perceive subtle messages about who can (and can’t) be successful at work, causing them to feel less welcome and experience belonging uncertainty. Other team members who do not perceive such messages or feel such burdens do not experience belonging uncertainty.

Belonging uncertainty often leads people to hide aspects of themselves, or not put their whole selves out there. That makes it tricky to detect. But a key indicator is when someone seems hesitant to participate. When that happens, leaders have a clue that the environment might not feel very welcoming to someone on the team.

As leaders, it’s our responsibility to help lift everyone in the entire organization, however and wherever we can. Without intentional support, employees experiencing belonging uncertainty may feel almost as if they’re carrying around a heavy backpack, weighing them down and causing them to struggle to engage fully, think creatively, or bring their full selves to work.

The concerns that arise from belonging uncertainty can also cause people to interpret neutral events negatively. For example, imagine that 2 employees give a big presentation at a quarterly meeting, and neither receives any applause when they finish.

• An employee with low belonging uncertainty may not really notice or, if they do, attribute the lack of applause to an audience eager to get to the next break.
• An employee who does experience belonging uncertainty might jump to conclusions, interpreting the silence as feedback that their presentation was confusing or poorly received. They might even tell themselves they’re not cut out for their job or the organization.

Even if the second employee is able to counter those negative thoughts with positive self-talk, the mental energy involved in processing those thoughts and questioning themselves is a burden they face, on top of their work responsibilities and the stress of giving a big presentation.

For leaders, if one person on the team feels they’re carrying around a heavy backpack, while another is not so weighed down, it’s going to be much easier for the second employee to tackle their work challenges than the first. This is why leaders should work to understand belonging uncertainty and how the workplace feels to everyone on the team, providing additional support for those who need it.

How to Create a Sense of Belonging in the Workplace

3 Tips for Leaders

Here’s the good news for leaders looking for advice on how to build belonging in the workplace: Your efforts don’t have to involve big or expensive gestures. Leaders can incorporate the following actions into everyday work life to counteract belonging uncertainty and instill a culture of belonging at work.

For maximum impact, know that the most powerful experiences involve fostering all elements of belonging: connecting with peers, building trust, valuing all employees’ unique voices, and decreasing belonging uncertainty.

1. Create intentional opportunities for connection.

Consistency is key. When trying to foster belonging at work, most organizations begin with creating opportunities for employees to connect. Many of us have attended a company pizza party or team mixer as an opportunity to meet people and build relationships. While that’s a start, leaders can make those experiences more potent by prioritizing consistent, ongoing opportunities for connection over one grandiose but infrequent event.

Being able to connect with colleagues twice a month is more impactful than a large, once-yearly occasion, even if the opportunities are small, because it serves as a booster for belonging at work. Whether reserving time at the beginning of meetings for team members to share something about themselves or facilitating cross-group coffee chats, creating space for people to connect with peers in a meaningful way on a regular basis is a promising way to support a sense of belonging.

Leaders can also build trust, an important element of belonging, by creating both social and professional opportunities to connect. Offering opportunities to share hobbies or personally held customs encourages employees to bring all parts of themselves to work, and begins to build a foundation of trust. Organizations might offer voluntary Employee Resource Groups to create spaces for connection, for example.

• TIP: Build small, ongoing opportunities for connection into your team or organizational culture. If you consistently focus on building leadership trust and create time for colleagues to make connections with one another, the impact compounds over time. You might set aside a few minutes to express gratitude publicly at the start of every team or department meeting, and create space for others to do the same. Or you might ask colleagues to bring questions as icebreaker activities, or set aside time to share wins and give kudos to teammates. Regardless, finding a sustainable way for employees to connect with each other authentically and consistently is key.

2. Flip the script on uncertainty and failure.

Normalize making mistakes. When people lack a sense of belonging, it can be an isolating experience. Akin to dealing with imposter syndrome, belonging uncertainty causes employees who feel they don’t belong to think they are the only ones experiencing those thoughts.

But in fact, most of us — at some point in our careers — have questioned ourselves and our abilities. When colleagues are willing to share their own uncertainties or even failures publicly, they normalize the feeling and help take away its power. This message can be particularly effective when it comes from colleagues further along in their careers. It can be powerful when a senior leader tells a younger manager their challenges and how they overcame them. Others have the same doubts, and it can be helpful to realize that they’re not alone in their worries and that their concerns might dissipate over time.

You might even consider keeping and sharing with colleagues “a resume of failures,” following in the footsteps of the story about a Princeton professor who created a CV of missteps. Rather than bulleting your accomplishments, list every job you didn’t get, every grant that wasn’t funded, and every idea that was rejected. The resume of failures will likely be much more extensive than your real resume — and more beneficial, too. Failures might have initially reinforced a sense that you don’t belong, but often upon reflection, we realize that we learned more from our failures than our successes. By typing them out and sharing them with your team or newer colleagues, you can reinforce the reality that everyone has to overcome hurdles — and that falling short of expectations doesn’t mean someone doesn’t belong in a role or doesn’t have what it takes. It means they have an opportunity to learn and develop.

• TIP: Normalize failure and frame uncertainty as common and temporary. Encourage a culture where employees can speak openly about handling stress, uncertainty, or setbacks. Encourage senior leaders to help bust myths around mistakes by reinforcing that failure is transient and to be expected. Model open and candid sharing of lessons learned, because that signals a willingness to make yourself vulnerable and encourages innovation, rather than sabotages it.
• TIP: Explore mentoring as a way to provide support during transition points. During times of transition, like onboarding, promotion, and new managerial responsibilities, could senior members of the team help reinforce and support other members? For example, if a new person joins the group or if someone is promoted, invite a more senior colleague to step in to share his or her experiences with the new manager. Coaching and mentoring programs can be used to develop new leaders, not only helping to support and onboard them, but also enabling both parties to benefit from mutual trust-building and an enhanced culture of belonging at work.

3. Show humility by not assuming others’ experiences.

Create opportunities for others to share. Leaders who consistently create space for connection and share their own self-doubts are more likely to have employees who feel psychologically safe at work, and subsequently are more comfortable sharing their experiences with belonging and belonging uncertainty. This is particularly important for employees who are most often overlooked and underestimated.

Power dynamics can often come into place in group settings, with those who hold more senior positions or privileged social identities taking up the most “airtime” in meetings. For example, one Catalyst study found that 1 in 5 women leaders feel overlooked or ignored during group video calls. Individuals from historically underestimated groups often report similar experiences.

Break the mold by scaffolding opportunities for all employees to share openly and honestly with you. When they do, remain open and choose your words wisely. What may seem innocuous to you doesn’t always seem that way to others. For example, if someone on your team opens up to you, and you respond with, “Oh, I know exactly how you feel!” you may think that you’re showing empathy, but that could come across as failing to acknowledge their personal experiences.

Everyone has their own lived experiences, so it’s important that leaders not downplay or invalidate others. Here is where a well-placed silence can be powerful. Don’t cut off potential sharing by moving on to another topic too soon.

Also, be mindful to not push employees to share their personal lives with you. Your job is simply to provide the space, not force anyone to share. Finally, discourage employees from speaking for others by asking everyone to focus on their own experiences. Give people a platform to share their own experiences and perspectives, so others don’t end up talking for them and the whole team can learn valuable lessons.

• TIP: Don’t assume you have the answers. Compassionate leadership starts with listening, and leaders sometimes make false assumptions about employees they don’t hear from, relate to, or understand. Instead of jumping to the conclusion that someone is “just shy,” for example, consider other explanations. Foster a trusting relationship over time, so employees can feel comfortable opening up at their own pace. Build an organization that values different perspectives by modeling (and training your team in) inclusive leadership practices and active listening skills. Particular things to practice include listening for understanding, remaining present in the moment, withholding judgement, and speaking less to hear more.

Better Leaders Focus on Building Belonging at Work

Leading with a focus on building belonging at work requires humility and bravery. Without a focus on equipping leaders and teams with the knowledge about how to create a sense of belonging in the workplace, organizations will never be as strong or productive as they could be.

At CCL, we believe in equipping leaders to cultivate organizational cultures that truly support everyone in the organization — ensuring people are better than just okay. We’ve created a downloadable collection of leadership resources on compassion, wellbeing, and belonging with actionable tips gleaned from our research.

The bottom line: belonging in the workplace is about more than just fitting in. True belonging is built on a strong foundation of trust, connection, and freedom from uncertainty. Fostering a sense of belonging at work acknowledges that everyone brings value through their different experiences and perspectives, and that some individuals might also be burdened with concerns. It’s a critical component of employee wellbeing, too, because when leaders consistently commit to fostering belonging at work, individuals and organizations thrive.

Ready to Take the Next Step?

Take a meaningful step toward increasing belonging at your workplace by starting a conversation with colleagues on your team or at your organization. Download Our Belonging at Work Conversation Guide now.

The post How to Build Belonging at Work appeared first on CCL.

The MarCom awards are administered by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP). The Awards honor excellence in marketing and communication while recognizing the creativity, hard work, and generosity of industry professionals. Since its inception in 2004, MarCom has evolved into one of the largest, most-respected creative competitions in the world. This year there were over 6,500 entries across the US, Canada, and 43 other countries.

CCL won a Gold award for the strategic and creative work that brought our bold, evolved brand to life. This comprehensive brand development initiative built upon our long-standing mission while setting a vision for our future. Our brand development work focused on strengthening our legacy and unique view of leadership, aligning our organizational strategy, and positioning us to further CCL’s awareness and positive brand perception. We also curated a refreshed and more inclusive brand expression, including visual and verbal elements.

CCL received a Platinum award for our updated brand brochure. Our new brand brochure is an extension of our award-winning brand development work, and showcases our strive to inspire and transform leaders globally, emphasizing the importance of human potential and purpose in leadership. It also highlights the solutions, research, and methodology that define CCL’s approach to leadership development.

Our “The (Better) Leadership Project” campaign also received Platinum. The series features content aimed at identifying key leadership challenges, developing new insights, and providing practical solutions to help leaders navigate digital transformation, global disruption, and social change.

This recognition celebrates CCL’s unwavering commitment to developing an impactful brand that resonates with audiences and aligns with our belief in the power of people, and that with the tools to expand mindsets, capacity, and capabilities, extraordinary achievements are within everyone’s reach.

“We are excited and honored for our Global Marketing team to receive this recognition for our work as among the best in the world. It is a true testament to the creativity and dedication of an incredible team that every day strives to set CCL apart,” said Sarah Nabors, Chief Marketing Officer.

View the full list of 2024 winners on the MarCom Awards website.

The post CCL Wins 2024 MarCom Awards for Brand Development and Campaign Work appeared first on CCL.

In the early days of the pandemic, many organizations scrambled to help individual leaders optimize their personal effectiveness with an increased focus on self-care. And for good reason: The pandemic left a wake of stress and burnout.

Yet while self-care is important, and resilience is foundational to leading others, they’re not enough alone.

A broader focus on community, connection, and a sense of belonging is required for leaders to help achieve true employee wellbeing. Our research has found this to be particularly true with regard to leaders making meaningful connections when leading virtual teams.

Employee Wellbeing Requires Leadership

First, why does wellbeing matter, particularly in the workplace?

When employees have a sense of wellbeing, they’re more engaged and creative. They also have higher job satisfaction and productivity levels, studies show.

And the importance of wellbeing and leadership is clear: “As a leader, it’s your duty to take care of others and to create an environment where others can be well,” says Dr. Paige Graham, who’s been an executive coach and facilitator for more than 20 years and is leading our work to create client solutions for leadership and wellbeing.

“I like to think about wellbeing as feeling good and functioning well, both individually and within a community,” Graham notes.

What the “quiet quitting” trend has taught organizations is that employee wellbeing really matters. Workers today aren’t as willing to sacrifice everything for their jobs. Instead, they desire fulfilling careers where they do meaningful work on a team where everyone is encouraged to thrive.

Wellbeing Leadership: 6 Components

The 6 Keys of Wellbeing

At CCL, we focus on 6 components of leading with wellbeing, so that organizations can enact deliberate practices that help their people enhance their own leadership and wellbeing — as well as that of their colleagues and direct reports. Here are the 6 keys to wellbeing:

1. Purpose
2. Growth
3. Health
4. Agency
5. Connection
6. Resilience

When leaders focus on these 6 things, they’re prioritizing wellbeing for both themselves and others, and the results are contagious — impacting not only their teams, but the culture of the wider organization, as well. As employee wellbeing is supported, enhanced, and rewarded, new mindsets and practices take root and become sustainable across the enterprise.

1. Purpose.

When employees feel that their work has intrinsic value and meaning — and when they can connect their day-to-day tasks to the organization’s mission — they’re more likely to feel a sense of purpose.

Achieving a sense of purpose starts with recognition. “It’s helpful to recognize the parts of our jobs that bring us energy and are aligned to what we believe is meaningful,” says Graham. Though helpful for everyone, value alignment is especially key for younger generations in the workforce.

• TIP: Leaders can support employee wellbeing and facilitate this connection with a focus on purpose in leadership. Encourage your people to think about what makes work meaningful for them. During meetings, check in on individuals, and not just on their work tasks. You can simply ask, How are things going? What brought you energy last week? What’s creating frustration for you? And then actively listen to their experiences, and respond with empathy and compassionate leadership. Resist the urge to judge or become defensive. Remember that the goal is not to “fix” every issue, but to hear what’s going on, and provide support.
  

2. Growth.

Humans crave challenges, so employee wellbeing is enhanced when people feel they’re growing and learning. When a learning culture is prioritized and a growth mindset is valued across an organization, leaders accept mistakes as opportunities to reflect on what was learned. As a result, people feel free to be more innovative and creative, because they’re not afraid to take risks.

• TIP: Leaders should reflect on how they respond to new ideas and use meetings as an opportunity to celebrate both wins and losses, creating space for people to share what they’re learning from what went wrong. This works best when managers and supervisors make an intentional effort to build a psychologically safe workplace so that team members feel comfortable revealing mistakes and discussing lessons learned.
  

3. Health.

Health is an essential component of wellness, as healthy minds and bodies are shown to enhance reasoning, problem solving, learning, and creativity.

“There’s only so much the human brain can handle,” says Graham. “If you work constantly without resting or incorporating movement into your day, you won’t be able to handle the bigger cognitive challenges. Your memory will suffer and you won’t be as creative.”

There’s a connection between good health and leadership: Optimal health and leadership effectiveness both start with foundational practices, such as movement, nutritious foods that fuel your brain, and a good night’s sleep — all of which help us regulate our emotions and process the events of the previous day.

• TIP: Leaders’ actions cement the culture. If you make time for wellness and model a focus on your own health as one of the keys to wellbeing — unplugging and taking real vacations from work (and encouraging others to do so too); creating boundaries around how late you send emails; and taking intentional steps like scheduling “walk-and-talk” meetings to increase your movement throughout the day — these all send a strong message of support for employee wellbeing to your direct reports, who are watching and learning from your behavior.
  

4. Agency.

When employees perceive a sense of control, as opposed to feeling externally controlled, they tend to be more well. When they meet roadblocks, people with a sense of agency are also more persistent in achieving their goals and in living with intention at work and at home.

“Sometimes when we feel like we don’t have a say and things are happening to us — that we are just picking up the pieces — we feel very little control over our own actions and the consequences of those actions,” says Graham.

How can leaders give people a sense of agency? Start by understanding the connection between purpose, agency, and employee wellbeing.

• TIP: If you know what gives each of your team members a sense of purpose, you can provide options for incorporating more of those responsibilities into people’s jobs. Organizational leaders can also support employee wellbeing by giving their employees as much choice as possible in where and how they work. Flexibility in the workplace benefits organizations because it improves employee engagement, loyalty, and retention. People perform at higher levels when they have the agency to schedule their workdays and prioritize what’s important across their work and personal lives.
  

5. Connection.

Employee wellbeing also requires leaders intentionally helping people to connect with one another. That’s important because strong and healthy relationships lead to acceptance of others and a culture of respect.

Helping people connect can be easier said than done. “Leaders have to understand that people have different preferences for connecting with others,” says Graham. “Some people like to be really social, but that’s not right for everyone.”

At CCL and many other organizations, Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) give people an opportunity to connect with others across certain commonalities. Often these are unique groups of people who typically haven’t worked together but share common experiences and social identities.

“Whether we’re being supported, or we are supporting others, we come away with a great feeling of connection and belonging at work, which is an essential human need,” says Graham.

• TIP: For leaders and organizations as a whole, the goal is to foster employee wellbeing by creating a trusting environment where people feel comfortable to be themselves, share how they’re feeling, and know they will find support. Leaders can start with inclusive leadership practices.
  

6. Resilience.

Organizations benefit from having resilient employees because, in challenging organizational settings or during times of change, resilient people operate more effectively and productively.

Resilience and wellbeing aren’t the same thing. While resilience is needed during stress, uncertainty, and setbacks, wellbeing impacts us all the time.

When times are tough, resilience is the ability to bounce back. Not only are resilient people able to adapt in the face of adversity, but they also grow and feel prepared for their next hurdle.

• TIP: Graham recommends seizing the good times to develop resilience. “I like the idea of upping my game, even when things are going well,” she says. It’s worth the effort: Resilient people tend to have greater wellbeing, and greater wellbeing leads to higher resilience. Not sure where to start? Learn 8 practices of resilient leadership.

Better Leaders Focus on Their Own & Their Employees’ Wellbeing

It’s important to note that employee wellbeing isn’t one size fits all. The keys to wellbeing may be slightly different from one person to the next. Team members may prefer to move or rest a bit differently or grow, share, connect, and be challenged in different ways.

That said, leaders being intentional about any of these things will result in increased employee wellbeing — for both individual managers and their teams.

Since the pandemic, there have been calls to stop framing wellness programs around self-care and instead focus on wellbeing for all, and it makes sense: If an organization’s leadership doesn’t promote wellbeing for the collective, the enterprise will never be as strong or productive as it could be.

At CCL, we believe in cultivating organizational cultures that truly support leadership on employee wellbeing — ensuring that people are better than just okay. We’ve created a downloadable collection of leadership resources on compassion, wellbeing, and belonging with actionable tips gleaned from our research.

When leaders focus on wellbeing and create space to care for themselves and others, they become more effective — as individuals, on their teams, within their organizations, and even impacting their entire communities.

Ready to Take the Next Step?

Take a meaningful step toward increasing employee wellbeing in your workplace by starting a conversation with colleagues on your team or at your organization. Download our Conversation Guide for leaders on wellbeing.

The post The Keys to Wellbeing and Leadership appeared first on CCL.

When faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges, we count on good leaders to take actions that pave a way forward for us all.

But better leaders know that success is about more than just their own personal competencies. Leadership is a social process, and to create shared direction, alignment, and commitment — the outcomes of leadership — they need a team of people who are able to function at their best.

At the core of leading others well? Compassionate leadership.

Compassion is at the heart of relationship-building, says Karissa McKenna, who is responsible for 3 of our core leadership programs, including our flagship Leadership Development Program (LDP)®.

At its broadest, compassion is an awareness of a person’s condition, coupled with genuine concern for that person and a willingness to take action to help. It’s about having the courage to walk alongside someone as they navigate a difficult time, a complex situation, or a persistent problem.

Truly compassionate leaders don’t merely lend a sympathetic ear or show empathy for everyone, and their goal isn’t just to solve the problems of their direct reports or take pain away from them.

Instead, compassionate leaders move beyond empathetic concern to take productive actions — supporting team members as they work through challenges and looking for systemic ways to reduce friction, making it easier for good people to do great work.

In short, compassionate leadership is about being willing to apply your influence and power to help create a more even playing field for others.

Why Is Compassionate Leadership Important?

Compassionate leaders are more effective leaders, because they’re able to strengthen trust on their teams and increase organizational collaboration, while decreasing turnover rates, research shows.

The ever-changing context of today’s workplace is challenging. Both internal and external forces are constantly shifting — on our teams, in our industries, and even in our personal lives. All of these forces can come into play, which is why you have to have compassion — both for yourself and for your team. As leaders demonstrate compassion toward themselves and others, they expand their entire team’s capacity to handle future challenges.

Compassion is one of the most powerful acts of leadership available to us, and it often shows up in the smallest of ways. “We see it in those moment-by-moment acknowledgements of what’s hard, what hurts, what is joyous, exciting, or disappointing,” McKenna says.

Most importantly, compassionate leaders acknowledge that their colleagues are more than any specific trauma they’ve endured or challenge they may be facing. In other words, they recognize that someone may be dealing with a particular hardship, but also that they have unique strengths. Compassionate leaders are able to see and acknowledge the whole person in context and seek to grow that person (not just solve their problems). In doing so, they uncover hidden talents and find new ways to leverage the skills and contributions of others.

Ultimately, compassionate leadership changes an entire organization’s culture, yielding greater cooperation and grace for all. Employees trust their leaders and each other, giving others the benefit of the doubt. As a result, senior leaders feel more comfortable taking bold, courageous actions. And when their people feel heard and sense that their perspectives and experiences are valued, they’re better able to support those bold actions, which benefits the entire enterprise.

Compassion Is Different From Empathy

Compassion Vs. Empathy, Explained

It’s important to note that compassionate leadership is more than just feeling empathy for everyone.

What’s the difference between compassion vs. empathy? Compassion is a lot like empathy, in that both attempt to understand how another person feels. And empathy in the workplace is certainly good to have. But simply feeling what someone else is feeling can be painful, and not very productive.

That’s because research has found that when we witness the pain and suffering of someone else, networks in our brains are activated which trigger and amplify similar negative emotions, making us more likely to experience emotional burnout.

For example, imagine an emergency room physician who feels overwhelming empathy toward their ER trauma patients. The doctor is then both less able to fulfill a unique and important role — providing expert help in a moment of need — and more likely to experience personal burnout. “What the physician needs isn’t empathy, but compassion — the ability to recognize the suffering and care for the person, quite literally in this case!” McKenna says.

In contrast to empathy, compassion has been found to involve a different set of neural networks and increases positive feelings, resilience, and the ability to overcome distress in challenging situations. In other words, compassion increases our likelihood of behaviors that take action to help others, whereas empathy alone does not.

“If you sit with another person’s emotions and ‘get stuck in their suffering’ without doing something about it, it can lead to burnout and broader organizational problems — both for you and your direct reports,” McKenna says. That’s why in chaotic times, when managers feel they can barely handle their own emotions, much less those of their direct reports, leaders should focus on compassion vs. empathy.

Behaviors of Compassionate Leaders

How to Show Compassionate Leadership: 4 Steps

During everyday interactions, leaders have many opportunities to incorporate compassionate leadership behaviors. Read on to learn how to recognize these opportunities and use them to make a difference on your team and in your organization’s culture.

1. Start with self-compassion.

Don’t overlook the power of showing compassion to yourself. Before you can extend compassion to others, make sure you’ve done the same for yourself. Research has found that leaders perform better when they show self-compassion, and it’s actually more predictive of goal attainment than self-confidence, according to one study.

“At least a third of the leaders we’ve seen in our leadership programs profoundly need more compassion for themselves,” McKenna says. “They’ve gone through a lot and they’re beating themselves up about their missteps. But imperfections are something to notice and care for.“

The key, McKenna says, is the ability to tease apart the small truths in what you’re telling yourself from “the big lie.” Perhaps you’re upset that your presentation didn’t go as planned; That didn’t go as well as I hoped is true. But I’ve lost all credibility with senior management likely isn’t.

“The small truth is almost always something you can deal with, learn from, and grow through. But the big lie can be paralyzing and costs a tremendous amount of energy.” Leaders who focus on the big lies instead of the small truths are too hard on themselves. By not showing themselves compassion for their mistakes, they miss a chance to learn from their experiences and try again.

• TIP: The way you talk to yourself really matters. Whether you’re speaking out loud, thinking in your head, or just jotting things down in a journal, harness the power of positive self-talk to improve your mental health and your leadership effectiveness. One trick is to talk to yourself in the second person (use “you,” not “I”). When you make that shift, you’ll probably automatically speak to yourself the way you might speak to a valued friend. (You’ll be honest, but kinder).

Another thing we see with our participants are struggles with work/life balance and resilience in handling stress, uncertainty, and setbacks. We remind them that taking time out for self-care and rest isn’t weakness. Recharging is important, because when we create space to notice and care for our imperfect selves, we also increase our ability to do that for others. Becoming a more holistic leader will enable you to be a more resilient, effective, and compassionate leader too.

• TIP: You must make time for wellness to reach your full potential. And it’s good to model taking time for yourself for others on your team, as it underscores that you and your organization understand the importance of wellbeing and leadership.

2. Prioritize psychological safety.

You can lay the groundwork for compassionate leadership by helping to create a culture that invites people to bring their full, authentic selves to work. “Anytime you have a group or team trying to accomplish something together, each person brings a whole life’s worth of experiences and perspectives, strengths and weaknesses, which can be tapped,” says McKenna.

When there’s psychological safety at work, employees feel comfortable speaking up, asking questions, sharing concerns, and respectfully disagreeing. When individuals feel able to share missteps without fear of retribution and energized instead of stifled by their differences, increased openness to diversity of thought leads to more risk-taking and greater innovation and collaboration. You get a multiplier effect, and the entire team benefits.

• TIP: As you learn from your own failures or disappointments, freely share those lessons with your team. This demonstrates self-compassion, shows that you value learning from mistakes, and challenges your direct reports to see mistakes as an opportunity for growth. You also create an environment where people know that honesty and candor are appreciated. And don’t forget to acknowledge successes and celebrate wins.

Leader attitudes and behaviors have a major impact on how psychologically safe their teams feel. Politeness and kindness really matter, not only to the person directly involved, but to the whole climate of the team and their direct reports too. Research shows that supervisor incivility has a negative impact on psychological safety 2 levels down in the organization. And more than half of first-time leaders (52%) in a large global CCL study said that it was not safe to make mistakes or take risks, suggesting that a lack of psychological safety is a barrier holding these emerging leaders back from making bigger contributions at their organizations by stepping up to larger leadership roles.

• TIP: Hopefully it goes without saying, but show kindness in the workplace!

3. Expand your understanding of others.

A curious mindset is fundamental to compassionate leadership. First, leaders must notice the challenges colleagues and direct reports are facing, and then they can ask questions to learn more and expand their scope of understanding.

“We cannot show compassion to another person unless we have truly listened to that person,” McKenna notes. Leaders don’t need to have all the answers, but when they use the practice of active listening, it conveys that they care. It’s important to listen for understanding, of both the facts and the feelings and values behind the facts, to learn more about where your people are coming from and what matters to them.

When you listen with curiosity, within an environment that is psychologically safe, it opens the door to another powerful tool — asking open-ended questions that convey caring and connection. Asking the right questions shows that leaders value others’ perspectives and can provide insight into why everyone on the team may not be aligned and committed — and what’s holding them back from moving together in a shared direction.

• TIP: Something as simple as noticing how someone is doing, asking them about it, and then listening for facts, feelings, and values in their answer can be a powerful leadership practice. Even saying something like, I see you’re overwhelmed and I wonder how I can help can really demonstrate compassionate leadership. Show kindness when colleagues disclose worries, hardships, or setbacks, but don’t immediately try to fix things or solve their problems. Ask good questions that help people view dilemmas from a different angle. Use the information you gain to help influence what you do next.

4. Take meaningful action.

Compassionate leadership isn’t merely providing a sympathetic ear. Simply having empathy for everyone without taking any meaningful action can actually be detrimental, both to individuals and the organization as a whole. Even if managers are great listeners when their employees speak up about something, they won’t feel truly listened to if their leaders don’t then act on what they heard, our researchers have found. This is because when employees share a concern, they’re doing so with the hope it will lead to positive organizational change; and if that doesn’t happen, they don’t feel heard and are then less likely to speak up in the future.

Compassionate leaders aren’t passive and do not accept excuses. When leaders hold their people accountable, they demonstrate that they trust them to follow through on their commitments. “We also don’t want the rest of the team to absorb all the problems when one team member isn’t accountable,” says McKenna.

Instead of stepping in to solve another person’s problems, leaders can use their power and influence to provide direction and structure. As a result, empowered employees have the tools they need to work through challenges and emerge as stronger problem-solvers.

• TIP: After you’ve listened, ask how you can support in resolving the issue. Work toward a mutual understanding of what the other person needs, how they might be able to address their needs themselves, and any additional resources that could be helpful. Also, listen closely for what you as a leader could do to support the other person as they work through the problem, or whether there are ways you could help to remove obstacles in their way that might be creating needless friction. Are there ways you could use the power of your leadership role to make your team or organization more inclusive or equitable by helping to remove the roadblocks others face?

Compassionate Leaders Are Better Leaders

Compassionate leaders move beyond empathetic concern to take productive actions. If they don’t, organizations will never be as strong or productive as they could be.

At CCL, we believe in helping leaders and organizations cultivate cultures that truly support everyone — ensuring people are better than just okay. We’ve created a downloadable collection of leadership resources on compassion, wellbeing, and belonging with actionable tips gleaned from our research.

The ever-changing context of today’s workplace is challenging. Both internal and external forces are constantly shifting — on our teams, in our industries, and even in our personal lives. All of these forces can come into play, which is why you have to have compassion — both for yourself and for your team. Compassionate leadership is also a key element of fostering belonging at work, which influences job satisfaction and performance.

When managers are compassionate leaders towards both themselves and others, they become more effective — as individuals, on their teams, within their organizations, and even impacting their entire communities. Compassionate leaders come to work as whole people, and work alongside others, enabling them to be whole people too, to create shared value for the collective.

Ready to Take the Next Step?

Take a meaningful step toward increasing compassionate leadership in your workplace by starting a conversation with colleagues on your team or at your organization. Download Our Compassionate Leadership Conversation Starter Guide now.

The post Better Culture Starts With Compassionate Leadership appeared first on CCL.

This is session 3 in our series, Towards (Better) Leadership. Be sure to explore our other sessions as well:

• Session 1: How to Lead With Compassion
• Session 2:  How to Promote Wellbeing at Work

Building a sense of inclusion and belonging in the workplace is an essential part of creating a strong workplace culture. Belonging — the belief that we are connected, supported, and respected — is a basic human need that, when provided, can pave the way for greater performance, innovation, satisfaction, persistence through challenges, and reduced employee turnover.

Research confirms that inclusion and belonging in the workplace — and an uncertainty about them — are strongly affected by organizations and their leaders. Sense of belonging has the power to influence everything from job satisfaction and self-esteem to performance and wellbeing.

Join us as our experts discuss how organizations can foster true belonging by building a strong foundation of trust, connection, and freedom from uncertainty in this session from our virtual event.

What You’ll Learn

• How to create a sense of inclusion and belonging in the workplace
• The impact of uncertainty about belonging
• The role of trust in workplace culture

The post Leading With Inclusion & Belonging in the Workplace appeared first on CCL.

This is session 2 in our series, Towards (Better) Leadership. Be sure to explore our other sessions as well:

• Session 1: How to Lead With Compassion
• Session 3: Leading With Inclusion & Belonging in the Workplace

Being a (better) leader means recognizing that a broader focus on community, connection, and a sense of belonging is required to achieve true employee wellbeing. Research shows that when organizations know how to promote wellbeing at work, their employees are more engaged and creative, and have higher job satisfaction and productivity levels.

What organizations have learned from today’s climate is that employees are not as willing to sacrifice for their jobs — they desire fulfilling careers and meaningful work on teams where everyone is encouraged to thrive. When leaders are empowered to promote wellbeing at work and create space to care for themselves and others, they become more effective — as individuals, on their teams, within their organizations, and even impacting their entire communities.

Join us for this session from our virtual event as our leadership experts discuss how organizations can go beyond a focus on individual resilience and self-care to build an entire culture that truly supports and promotes employee wellbeing.

What You’ll Learn

• The 6 keys to wellbeing
• How to promote wellbeing at work for the collective
• Why leaders must be responsible for their employees’ wellbeing

The post How to Promote Wellbeing at Work appeared first on CCL.

This is session 1 in our series, Towards (Better) Leadership. Be sure to explore our other sessions as well: 

• Session 2:  How to Promote Wellbeing at Work
• Session 3: Leading With Inclusion & Belonging in the Workplace

The context of today’s workplace is growing ever more challenging as internal and external forces are constantly shifting — on our teams, in our industries, and even in our personal lives. As we recognize that all these forces can come into play, it is also becoming important for leaders to understand how to lead with compassion — for both themselves and their teams.

Compassion is one of the most powerful acts of leadership available to us, and it often shows up in the smallest of ways. As leaders demonstrate compassion toward themselves and others, they expand their entire team’s capacity to handle future challenges. Ultimately, compassionate leadership changes an entire organization’s culture, yielding greater cooperation and grace for all.

Join us for this session from our virtual event as we discuss how organizations can take meaningful action to build and sustain more compassionate work environments.

What You’ll Learn

• Behaviors of compassionate leaders
• What research teaches us about how to lead with compassion in the workplace
• What it means to go beyond empathy and towards compassion

The post How to Lead With Compassion appeared first on CCL.