You remember the days when your boss is calling you on a regular basis, being pushy and demanding and you feel like you had to come up with excuses and even losing trust in yourself? Now does this any employee feel valued at work? Maybe..but Err… No.
But still, feeling valued, respected, and encouraged is central to gentle leadership. Gentle leaders foster a supportive environment in which others can flourish by emphasizing these qualities. Furthermore, these leaders place a premium on open communication, active listening, and emotional intelligence, factors that are necessary for establishing and maintaining trustworthy connections with their employees. Can this be accomplished?
The concept of gentle leadership is interesting and is seen as a potent and successful method of leading teams and organizations in today’s fast-paced, competitive world. A more caring and encouraging workplace can be achieved through this kind of leadership, which is characterized by empathy, open communication, and understanding. Let’s dive into more details and how such an environment can be improved?
The Influence of Empathy in Gentle Leadership
As already mentioned in the introduction, individuals feel comfortable when they are appreciated, respected, and encouraged in first place. Gentle leaders foster a supportive environment in which others can flourish by emphasizing these qualities. Furthermore, these leaders place a premium on open communication, active listening, and emotional intelligence, all of which are necessary for establishing and maintaining trustworthy connections with their employees. Simon Sinek is a strong proponent of servant leadership, which aligns closely with gentle leadership. In his book “Leaders Eat Last,” Sinek argues that great leaders prioritize the needs of their team members over their own. So, the title of the book names it: They eat last. He believes that when leaders demonstrate selflessness, empathy, and a genuine concern for the well-being of their employees, they can inspire loyalty, trust, and cooperation. Moreover, it is worth to mention that Robert K. Greenleaf‘s principles align the most with gentle leadership, as he is the founder of servant leadership. Both approaches prioritize empathy, humility, service to others, and fostering personal and professional growth among team members. In contrast to gentle leadership, autocratic or command-and-control leadership style prioritize strict hierarchy and control. By that means, Niccolò Machiavelli, the Italian political philosopher, whose book “The Prince” has been interpreted as promoting manipulative and ruthless tactics for leaders to maintain power. Machiavelli’s ideas often prioritize the end goal over the means, which can conflict with the values of gentle leadership that emphasize empathy. This can result in a toxic work culture and erode trust and loyalty from employees and stakeholders. In the long term, the lack of attention to the process and values may lead to unsustainable success, reputation damage, and leading whole teams to fail. A classic Lose-Lose situation no one really likes to pursue.
Moderation in Enforcement
Despite its soft-sounding name, gentle leadership does not mean leaders to be a Banana and avoid using their power or avoid making unpleasant choices. Nope. Instead, it requires striking a balance between being friendly and empathetic with others and also standing firm when necessary. According to Sinek, embracing the “why”: Focus on core purpose and values to inspire and guide actions. Prioritizing people: Cultivate trust, empathy, and support to foster a positive organizational culture. So, find the balance in between them. And now how can one balance the use of persuasion with ethical considerations? With this, leaders should focus on creating mutual benefits for all parties involved, ensuring that their intentions and reasoning are transparent and honest. They must respect the autonomy of others, allowing them to make informed decisions without coercion. By practicing empathy, active listening, and accountability, leaders can maintain ethical standards while effectively persuading others. The result is a boost in morale and output from the team.
A Real-World Illustration of Kind Dental Administration
The dentistry field provides a fascinating illustration of gentle leadership in action. Dentist leaders must balance the demands of caring for patients and running a profitable practice. By adopting a soft-spoken yet tough management style, they make the workplace pleasant for everyone involved and boost productivity.
Quotes about Leadership and Gentleness: Food for The Soul
Several quotations on gentle leadership stress the significance of these qualities in good management: empathy, understanding, and frank discussion. This phrase from Confucius, “To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart,” captures the essence of gentle leadership beautifully: using emotional intelligence to bring out the best in others. Another one that inspired us is from L.R. Knost: “Gentleness is not weakness. In fact, it takes a great deal of strength to be gentle. It’s a sign of courage and inner strength to be kind, empathetic, and compassionate in the face of challenging situations.”
Why Gentle Leadership Requires Subtle Persuasion
Subtle persuasion is another key component of gentle leadership, which is used to steer team members toward desired outcomes. Dr. Robert Cialdini, a renowned psychologist and expert on persuasion, emphasized subtle persuasion in his seminal book, “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.” He identified six principles of persuasion – reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity – which work subtly and effectively to influence others.
Cialdini emphasized subtle persuasion because it relies on an understanding of human behavior and natural cognitive biases to guide decision-making. By using these principles, individuals can influence others in a more ethical and genuine way, ultimately fostering cooperation and creating win-win situations. Subtle persuasion can be seen as an effective communication technique that influences others without being overly forceful and in no way aggressive. It relies on gentle suggestions, skillful framing, and understanding the needs and motivations of the audience. Now skillful framing can be performed best by presenting information or ideas in a way that resonates with the audience’s values, emotions, and interests. For example, when proposing a new environmentally friendly initiative to a group of stakeholders, a skillful leader might emphasize the long-term cost savings, positive public image, and alignment with the stakeholders’ commitment to corporate social responsibility, making the proposal more appealing Leaders may drive their teams in the correct direction without resorting to coercion if they have a deep awareness of their members’ needs, motivations, and objectives. Think about this a moment.. as a Leaders that can read and respond to their team members’ emotions will inspire loyalty and productivity from their employees and will instantly transform it into a better team.
The Power of Soft Skills Underestimated: There Is Strength in Being Polite.
The need for soft skills has been highlighted by the rising value placed on compassionate and gentle leadership. Research conducted by LinkedIn in their 2021 Global Talent Trends Report highlights the significance of soft skills in leadership. It is said that 89 percent of recruiters believe a candidate’s lack of soft skills is the primary reason why a hiring does not turn out to be successful. Essential skills for leaders include communication, empathy, adaptability, and emotional intelligence. Additional skills, such as collaboration, conflict resolution, decision making, time management, creativity, and active listening.
Accepting the Future of Peaceful Leadership and be GENTLE
In conclusion, gentle leadership is a potent and game-changing method of management that balances compassion, insight, and authority. Leaders can foster both individual and organizational development by adopting this style. The value of compassionate leadership in creating the future of work is hard to exaggerate in a rapidly developing and unpredictable environment.