When did you start to see the shift in leadership that prioritized compassion, empathy and EQ, and how have you been able to apply these behaviors?

Emotional intelligence has been a very buzzy term in leadership circles that last decade or so. As the needs of the workforce have evolved, so, too, must the approach and strategy of effective managers.

The top leaders are those who can differentiate between playing favorites and giving certain employees certain kinds of attention/feedback. Every worker marches to his own drumbeat, and their bosses need the agility to personalize the connections he or she builds with each. But no matter who you're managing, bringing compassion and empathy into each of these relationships has become crucial.

Jim Thompson, Analytics Advisor for Gary Vaynerchuk: I felt these were important aspects because they suited my personality and style, but in the past may have viewed them as my weakness. There were very few role models who operated this way 10-20 years ago. I felt the shift working for smart, thoughtful leaders like Dan Strauss and now more than ever with Gary Vaynerchuk. I felt the shift starting about 10 years ago.

Kristen Hadeed, founder and CEO of Student Maid Inc., speaker and consultant: I started my company a little over a decade ago when I was still in college, so if anything, I've been part of the shift; I'm not sure I can pinpoint its start. For me, compassion, empathy, and emotional intelligence became part of my leadership style naturally. I was hiring and leading people my own age or just a few years younger, so I clearly understood their needs and perspectives because they were often the same as mine. In my company, we strive to build compassion and empathy into everything we do. For our team members, most of whom are college students, that means we let them build their work schedules around their classes and exams. We have check-in meetings with them where we talk with them about what's going on their lives, what goals they're working toward, and how we can help hold them accountable. When they make mistakes, like showing up late for work, the consequences they face aren't about punishing them; they're about helping them learn so they can avoid those same mistakes in the future.

Jaime Hamel, Global Recruitment Marketing Program Manager at Marsh & McLennan Companies: This is a great question, and one worth reflecting on. In my personal experience, it has really picked up in recent years both in the way that I try to lead and how my leaders work with me. Personally, I have tried to always take a step back and think of the other person’s perspective on things versus automatically reacting to how everything affects our ability to produce. 

Steve Susi, executive creative director and author: I've always believed the best boss to have early in one's career is a terrible one—only one, hopefully—and I've had my share. It's not too dissimilar from how a former restaurant server treats waitstaff later in life as a customer. Leaders learn quickly and permanently how not to treat others, to respect their efforts if well-intentioned, praise publicly, and coach privately. I first noticed this shift in leadership style (employer name withheld) when the C-suite began to take concerns from lower-level staffers seriously, instead of casting aside their complaints about management as sour grapes, to the point of terminating repeat offenders. This is a recent phenomenon. The cynic in me ascribes this to the highly litigious environment we now live in (HR is uber-sensitive to legal action which can destroy a company's reputation and market value), and to social media leaving nowhere for these low-grade psychopaths to hide. No matter what it was, the die has been cast, particularly with the rise of the Woke and #MeToo movements. Don't be a jerk, and don't hire one either. Easy enough.

Chris Carper, Customer Success Leader at Microsoft: I’ve always been a believer in being an empathetic leader, but really understanding what that means and learning how to be more empathetic was in the last five years. I’m still learning every day and trying to understand how to be more present and understand the perspectives of my team and the things they are being influenced by. I try using every 1:1 or group interaction to stop, listen, and think about the other perspective before I respond. I still have a long way to go and am trying to learn every day. 

Santa Ono, President and Vice Chancellor at the University of British Columbia: The shift in leadership style toward one of empathy and emotional intelligence has really gained steam over the past decade. I was personally inspired to adopt this approach by studying Mahatma Gandhi in middle school. Other individuals who influenced my leadership style were John F. Kennedy and Nelson Mandela.

Rob Thomas, Marketing Director at KSWO TV: As soon as large companies started consolidating, the need became apparent. If anyone was going to prove to employees their worth it had to be us on the local level. Shareholders don’t care. Corporations, depending on their structure and culture, may not be able to know an individual’s worth. But we on the ground do. I think it starts with getting to know employees in the same way we get to know everyone: conversations. Talk about life, family, interests, hobbies, the things that help us get to know each other. We should want to get to know them better, and vice versa. It opens the door to understanding what motivates and the dreams they have.

John Culliton, SVP at Smith Geiger: This boils down to a few principles:

* Short, frequent feedback is better than long feedback sessions that can be debilitating. Frequent feedback makes a person feel like they’re not getting a bomb dropped on them. The employees get a mix of good and bad—then just move on to what’s next.

* Positive reinforcement can never be underestimated. It can be used to bring up bad things, like “I had been concerned about how you handled complex stories until I saw what you did with yesterday’s explanation of the ______virus.”

* Spend more time on what a person does well -- and force them to do those things even better -- then trying to shore up weaknesses that may exist in perpetuity. 

Scott Libin, Senior Fellow at University of Minnesota Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication: I was fortunate to work for people who exhibited these characteristics before they were fashionable. I learned early on that what some people call "soft skills" are not only nice to have in the workplace, but good for business overall. Over the years, I've seen "staying out of trouble with the boss" produce minimal compliance and mediocre performance. On the other hand, truly engaged employees -- those who feel appreciated, involved and a part of something meaningful -- produce a powerful, positive impact.