A lot of leaders believe that being tough and unflappable is the best way to inspire and manage. But you may be able to get better results from your team with a softer touch. Expert Emma Seppälä explains how compassion needs to be a part of any leader’s management style.
Compassion is a better managerial approach than toughness in today’s workplace, says Seppälä, associate director of Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. “The more compassionate response will get you more powerful results,” she wrote in a Harvard Business Review article. In fact, trying to make employees fearful and punish them for mistakes is typically counterproductive to the organization, she explains.
Stanford News Service recently interviewed Seppälä on the topic.
Q: How should a manager react when an employee is not performing well or makes a mistake?
A: The traditional response is a reprimand of some sort. After all, the employee’s behavior may very well reflect poorly on you as a manager or even the whole team. The idea behind the reprimand is that it will serve not only as a warning to the employee but to the rest of the team. Checks and balances help ensure that everyone stays on their toes.
However, despite its apparent logic, research is showing that this traditional punitive approach may end up doing more ill than good.
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Q: What is wrong with the traditional approach of reprimand? What does the research say?
A: The problem with this type of approach is that it increases stress levels, which—when they are high—can disrupt the culture of an organization. Moreover, we know from brain-imaging research that, under chronic and high stress, the ability to think clearly and reason is compromised. If your employees are constantly operating from a place of fear, chances are that their productivity and decision-making will take a hit.
What’s more, their ability to be creative and to think innovatively will also diminish. Why? Because they will be less willing to take chances and go out on a limb, for fear of being punished. Given steep competition in the marketplace and the critical importance of innovation to keep up with competing businesses, managers should be particularly mindful to keep their organizational culture positive.
Moreover, considering that stress-related problems cost organizations in the U.S. workforce more than $300 billion a year, managers everywhere should be working hard to keep stress levels low.
Finally, if you are hard on an employee or punish them in some way, chances are that you will damage the relationship with that employee. Their trust in you and loyalty toward you may very likely decrease. Research shows that employees are particularly sensitive to trust in their managers. Anger can significantly reduce that trust. Research also shows that when managers display anger, they may appear more powerful in the moment but their employees will actually come to view them as less effective.
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Q: What is a better alternative to punishment?
A: When an employee has made a mistake, approach them from a place that is compassionate. Of course, a part of you may be upset, but adopting a compassionate response will actually get you and your employee better results. Here’s why:
Your employee will become loyal to you. We know from research that loyalty is not about the paycheck, it’s about the relationship the employee has with you. If you display admirable qualities that move the employee – for example, you display kindness rather than anger— chances are that employee will become more loyal to you and will, in turn, emulate your behavior.
A compassionate response will also build trust. Your employee will feel that, even when he is not performing, his manager will give him a chance to do better. You can even see the impact of a trustworthy manager at the level of an employee’s brain. A neuroimaging study showed that thinking about managers who have shown empathy activates brain areas that correspond to positive emotions. In turn, trusting employees end up performing better.
Research is showing that a happier workplace is a workplace with less turnover and where employees are more productive and take less sick days.
In tomorrow’s Advisor, Seppälä answers more questions from Stanford News Service, and provides three steps to cultivate a compassionate mindset.