The art of compassionate leadership – the bedrock of a successful organisation

The health and happiness of teams, their sense of community, connection and collaboration determines the health and success of the organisation. It’s not enough however, to collaborate towards shared objectives, it’s the quality of the relationships, how we see and treat each other, that is at the heart of a healthy and positive work culture.

Karen Liebenguth teaches the art of compassion in the workplace.

This creates a sense of ‘we are in it together’, a community built on trust and belonging.

In today’s rapidly changing, challenging and complex times we’re finding workplaces (and beyond) troubled instead by a list of varying malaises from disconnection to anxiety, hopelessness to despair, fear and exclusion.

How have we so utterly lost our way, and how, as leaders, can we enable caring work cultures where people feel safe and valued, with a sense of belonging that enables them to flourish?

In workplaces, the organisation as a whole can be understood as a community - a group of staff working together to contribute to the mission and vision of the organisation, and a group of staff organised in teams to achieve shared objectives to fulfil the overall purpose of the organisation.

As leaders we determine, influence and shape company culture: what we model, how we show up, how we act and how we are. We create conditions that allow and encourage others to be well, grow, develop and flourish. The opposite is also true.

When we meet employees, peers and colleagues with kindness, compassion, interest, curiosity and non-judgement, people can unfurl, open up, feel safe, develop in creative and skilful ways. As a result, they want to engage and contribute to the success of the organisation.

Therefore, how leaders act, manage, engage with others creates the conditions which allow others to thrive. That’s what I call compassionate, and hence effective, leadership and it’s the bedrock of a successful organisation.

How then, can we, as leaders, create conditions for empathic and compassionate leadership that can enables safety, dignity and belonging in the workplace?

How can we as leaders model an eco-centric i.e. ‘I’ in relationship to others (vs ego-centric) way of creating relationships with team members and colleagues?

We can begin to draw on non-conceptual intelligences that are crucial for the health of a community (team), such as our intuition, imagination, intrinsic relatedness and interdependence on our human need for space, freedom, autonomy and trust.

We can ask better, systemic, questions that are non-transactional and for the greater good of teams and the organisation as a whole. Rather than asking: What can I gain? How do I give to get? Who can help me solve this situation or problem? We can begin to ask: How can I help? Where are we at? What’s happening? What else might be causing this situation? What are the power dynamics in these relationships? What’s needed now? How can we combine our strength?

To ask such questions, we need to slow down, give space and time, listen carefully, and hear each person’s perspective and view point in order to build trust and include differences.

Psychological safety and compassion are the best indicators for collaboration, connection and performance (Awaris, 2023) in the workplace.

Here are four habits that you can develop to become a compassionate leader:

1.     Regularly make time for check-ins with your team(s): at the beginning of a team meeting go around and ask: How are you doing? Actively listen.

2.     Allowing and sharing emotions: Most conflicts in teams and groups arise through a lack of emotional literacy, empathy and compassion. Emotional literacy is the ability to feel and express one’s emotions. When people in teams have not learned how to feel and express their emotions, they are unable to take personal responsibility for their reactions and emotions towards what’s happening in the team.

Empathy is the ability to feel and sense into the emotions of others, what might be going on for them. And compassion is the capacity to willingly engage with one’s own and other’s suffering and to do everything to alleviate the suffering. This may mean realising that little to nothing can be done other than being present to our own and others’ experience.

Compassion requires a sturdy heart, one that doesn’t shy away from facing difficult emotions and situations, to be able to say: ‘this is difficult, this is painful, this is how things are right now’, and doing the best you can do alleviate the situation. This may mean just listening, or just offering a helping hand or support with something. It does not mean fixing the situation or finding a solution.

3.     Integration and inclusion: as leaders we need to ensure that all views are included and that equal talk and listening time is granted.

4.     Reflection: as leaders we need to make time to regularly reflect on our collaboration, i.e., to honestly notice what has worked and what hasn’t, and make adjustments if need be.

When leaders relate to each person with respect, openness and non-judgement regardless of their gender, race, background, performance and lead more compassionately, it can be hugely connecting and bonding for teams, as it tends to lead to better collaboration, engagement and motivation.

And while attitudes such as compassion, kindness and empathy are still highly underrated in the workplace and are too often seen as soft or sentimental, encouragingly, recent research underpinning World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, states the top five skills for the future as: empathic leadership, resilience, creative thinking, analytical thinking and self-awareness. The report states, that these are skills that allow employees to collaborate, adapt and engage.

The things that arise in this world do so because of the conditions that gave rise to them. And when those conditions change, those things change too.

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About Karen Liebenguth & the Speakers Collective

Karen regularly speaks on the topic of the value of kindness and compassion in the workplace and on how to lead with compassion.

If you are interested in Karen Liebenguth speaking at an event or providing training please contact info@speakerscollective.org. 

Speakers Collective is a Social Enterprise. We work together with a shared commitment to challenge stigma, facilitate important conversations and promote learning on a variety of social issues. Please do contact us via info@speakerscollective.org or via our contact form here.