Leadership, much like user experience, has to operate from a position of empathy. This means trying to understand what teams and individual team members are up against and dealing with on a daily basis. In order to be good leaders, it is important to understand how life and work feel at different levels of the organization.
We live in disconnected times. Automation and tools that make our jobs easier influence our decision making can give us permission to pull back on personal relationships. This makes us more isolated.
In the past we may have run into “Jill” at the watercooler and were able to learn about current projects, blockers or even their vacation with her husband, three kids and in-laws. Now we need to make an extra effort to strike up such conversations via zoom or plan to have a physical meeting in the office.
Leaders who believe they find the answer for better management in impersonal surveys, might also wonder why attrition, motivation and productivity is not something they seem to be able to get under control.
One way to gain this understanding is to look at our employees as if they were our customers — comprehend their challenges with tools, processes, cross-functional collaboration, perception, communication and all of the other things that affect their work lives.
As leaders we should also accept the fact that we do not have all the answers. Isn’t that why we have teams, so we can solve problems together? Let’s also acknowledge that we leaders also make mistakes, and are winging it most of the time, just like our reports.
We need to invite team members, including the people that do not directly report to us, into emotionally safe, honest and real conversations. We need to allow them the space to speak freely and to express their ideas and worries. Doing this will provide opportunities for us to see things from a new perspective, opening up many new possibilities of understanding.
If we are also willing to acknowledge our insecurities and flaws to our teams, we might be able to establish a real baseline of shared empathy. As an added benefit, we may just gain our teams’ respect and trust, especially if we are the kind of leaders that roll up our sleeves every once in a while and teach by doing.
Only if we do this will we be able to lead from a place of mutual acknowledgement. It will make us the kind of leaders that can fiercely protect and honestly speak for their team. It will allow us to lead with heart!
My wish for 2022 is that we as leaders embrace our inner experience designer. Let’s take our own agendas out of the equation for a minute and have some real conversations with the people that are the reason why we have management jobs in the first place.
Make your 2022 leadership count!