Can leaders really make their people happier? ... And should they?

“Successful leaders in the future will be the ones who can facilitate true happiness for their people.”?- Steven Worrall, Managing Director, Microsoft Australia and New Zealand

Surely, I hear you say, leadership is complex and demanding enough without also being responsible for making your people happy! And secondly … is that even possible?

What we do know from our extensive global research is that when a leader is both good at their job and shares genuine care for their people’s feelings and wellbeing — their people flourish.

I invite you to take a quick audit of your leadership development programs and your promotion criteria. Do they tend to over-anchor on the performance side and reward solely or mostly on competence? Or do so-called “soft skills” come into play?

Our?Human Leader ?study shares that when leaders can exhibit?compassion — along with the courage to be transparent and do the hard things well — leaders, teams and the entire organisation reap the benefits:

• Job satisfaction improves by 86%
• Job engagement grows by 53%
• Burnout decreases by 64% ?

We call this wise compassionate leadership, and it’s what sets our leadership programs apart from the rest.?Reach out?if you’d like to discover more, and please read on for more tips about developing human-centred leadership.

Training caring performance

Our solutions are designed to lift the collective capabilities of your leaders across three critical areas — to drive extraordinary results for your people, stakeholders and the b usiness.

As our client Laurie Rebholz, Managing Director of Global Leadership Solutions at Citi shares:?

“The data shows that if you can balance doing hard things in a human way, retention goes up, and performance improves. I realized that this was the direction we needed to take. Compassion is not merely about being nice. It's not about being soft as a leader.”?

You can hear more from Laurie about developing these skills at Citi, along with insights from Nhlamu Dlomu, Global Head of People at KPMG, on the replay of our webinar?Leadership Reimagined: New Leaders Needed for New Futures .

How we develop leaders for the future

Developing capacity in leaders can take many forms. Starting with keynotes or online sessions through to multi-month face-to-face or blended programs and immersive retreats.

Here’s a quick snapshot to illustrate how we partner with clients to achieve their desired results:? ?

World's largest consulting firm?– We’ve been working with the world’s largest consulting firm since 2014. Over the past two years, we’ve loved delivering the impactful six-month Mind of the Leader program to multiple cohorts of senior managers and associate directors across Australia and New Zealand. Their feedback has really warmed our soul. ?

NAB?— Our tailored approach to boosting leadership skills and mental agility of the bank’s aspiring leaders continues in 2024, comprising a series of monthly online sessions to help teams navigate the complexities of working in a fast-paced, customer centric business environment. ?

NSW Department of Education?— Since 2016 we’ve partnered with the department to deliver close to 90 leadership development programs. Most recently we recorded a series of fascinating podcasts with school leaders to highlight the strengths and opportunities that caring performance brings. ?

King & Wood Mallesons?— We worked with Australian and Singapore partners of this international firm to help their people apply compassionate leadership and realistic optimism when dealing with the unique challenges that law brings.

What do leaders need to overcome adversity?

Mark July 30 at noon in your calendar for an insightful and heartwarming webinar: What Leaders Need to Overcome Adversity: A Personal Perspective.

The webinar will?explore the leadership qualities and mental strategies needed to bounce back from adversity and come out the other side with wise optimism.?In this engaging 45-minute session, Potential Project Co-Directors Jenny Steadman and Gillian Coutts will discuss how the key skills and mindsets needed for human-centred leadership can also be pivotal in navigating life’s unexpected up and downs.??

As many of you know, Gill suffered a life-altering severe stroke two years ago and continues to do all she can to not only regain her quality of life but thrive through this ‘new normal’.??

Gill will share how her rich experience in teaching compassionate leadership?— accessing the?power of active hope, acceptance and curiosity — helped her to face the significant physical and mental challenges thrown her way.?

Gill’s insights received standing ovations at the 2023 Happiness and its Causes Conference and the Thriving Workplace event last month, so don’t miss this important conversation.?

This free interactive webinar?is open to all leaders and aspiring leaders interested in developing greater resilience, courage and compassion. You can register here .

Please?get in touch?if you’d like to discuss opportunities to have Gill and Jenny speak at your next conference?or training day.

A last word from the people who count

Here's some feedback from participants at our recent Mind of the Leader Program with a top tier consulting firm:

“I would highly recommend this program to other senior managers and associate directors because it's a really fantastic opportunity to take that time out and learn and grow as future leaders.” - Senior Manager, Canberra?

"I've been fortunate to work for some really large global organisations who run leadership courses and this one was hands down the best leadership course that I have attended so I could not recommend it highly enough to anybody who is considering a leadership course." - Senior Manager, Melbourne

"I would absolutely recommend this and already have because I think everybody who did the course agreed that this was probably the best training that they had done at all, or at least in a very, very long time."- Senior Manager, Canberra.

Thanks for reading all the way through.