How to be an Empathetic Leader

Years ago VSG was hired to help a pharmaceutical company expand their 50 person sales organization to 500 people.?

Their strategy was to hire a business to business sales person and give them the “opportunity” to get into pharmaceutical sales.?They would hire what they considered to be the “best athlete”, train them, and send them out to the field.?If the rep didn’t meet high quotas within the first 90-days on the job, they were immediately put on a “performance improvement plan” OR simply fired.?The company didn’t care how it impacted the person’s career, self-esteem, or company culture.?It never entered their mind.

Because of their attitude towards their field force, they had no employee loyalty.? Everyone worked scared that they would lose their jobs at any time.

Even the leadership of the company was filled with anxiety daily that they would lose their jobs.?How can you possibly perform at a peak level when you are literally scared and anxious daily about losing your job? ?With this hiring methodology, they would give great praise and reward to the top 1% but what did that do to the other 99%??The company had 80% turnover and that is being generous.?

Ultimately, did the company make money – yes.?But, at what cost? The leadership and company harmed so many people and developed for themselves a terrible reputation in the marketplace.?The devalued pretty much everyone.?

Companies cannot thrive without strong employee retention – that’s a fact.?Companies cannot retain people without empathetic leadership.?Many companies think it’s all about compensation.?This couldn’t be further from the truth.?Companies without empathetic leadership show through Gallup Polls that 80% of their team “quietly quits”.?What does that mean to morale and performance??How does it impact the bottom line?

Below are 10 Keys to creating a more empathetic leadership style:

1.??????Create different kinds of conversations that welcome all perspectives in search for unity

2.??????Avoid the Law of Diminishing Returns – don’t burn people out

3.??????Get on the same side of the table with others

4.??????Establish relationships where we are all moving in the same direction.?Make sure there is alignment with values, goals, and desired results

5.??????Listen to understand – this is the oldest thought in the book but it is so true!

6.??????Put yourself in someone else’s shoes

7.??????Have a mindset of service – Most people are unfortunately selfish and only thinking about serving themselves.?Serve others first.?DROP SELFISHNESS

8.??????Stop being so tactical and start being more relational

9.??????Treat people how you would want to be treated

10.??Encourage – this doesn’t mean to tolerate low performance or be a doormat, it does however, mean to rehab when rehab is possible

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