| |
| |
|
Leadership Information |
|
|
|
The Compassion Paradox
Effective leaders are comfortable with paradox. They can call on skills and work in ways that seem to be contradictory. Dictionary.com defines paradox as "a seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true." As I study the field, I find many paradoxes associated with leadership. I see that developing the skills of a great leader requires us to work in apparently contradictory ways that are nonetheless true. I often see my clients and seminar participants wrestle with these issues because they present themselves as extreme and contradictory positions. Many people struggle because they view the paradoxical extremes as either/or positions rather than both/and positions. One dilemma many people have difficulty confronting is, what I call, the Compassion Paradox - As a leader, you must be compassionate AND you must hold people accountable. Sometimes I say it this way: You cannot be too soft if you want to be compassionate. Let me explain. Depending on their personality style and personal experience, most people fall more on one side or the other of these two extremes. They are great at holding people accountable, but not so great at showing compassion. Or, they are great at showing compassion, but not so great at holding people accountable. Learning to work both ends of this divide is one key to becoming an effective leader. We normally fail to appropriately apply this principle because we do not really understand the two extremes. People who are comfortable with accountability view compassion as too "soft". And, people who are comfortable with compassion view accountability as too "hard". The truth is that neither extreme is either "soft" or "hard". They are simply different responses to different leadership situations. Let's consider the definitions of these two responses Compassion - deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it. Accountability - the condition of being called to account; answerable. As leaders, we must be aware of people's needs and work to meet them - i.e. we must be compassionate. We must also hold people accountable. If we fail to hold people accountable, the organization fails. If we do not address concerns, people work at bare minimum levels or they leave. Again, the organization fails. Some people are comfortable with this paradox. I find that most are not. My personal challenge is this - I fall more on the compassion side than on the accountability side. With conscious effort, I have improved my ability to hold people accountable. It is still not natural or comfortable for me. I realize, though, that it is necessary. Whatever your bent, I encourage you to look at your behaviors as a leader. Are you more comfortable with compassion or with accountability? Either way, work to develop comfort with the other. When you can choose your response based on the situation, rather than your personal comfort, you will be skilled at applying the Compassion Paradox. You will be one step closer to acting as a highly effective leader. Copyright 2005, Guy Harris Guy Harris is the Chief Relationship Officer with Principle Driven Consulting. He helps entrepreneurs, business managers, and other organizational leaders build trust, reduce conflict, and improve team performance. Learn more at http://www.principledriven.com Guy co-authored "The Behavior Bucks System TM" to help parents reduce stress and conflict with their children. Learn more about this book at http://www.behaviorbucks.com
MORE RESOURCES:
leadership - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
A Leader's Ultimate Goal - Connect to Engage! Connect and Engage! Your People Are Your Power.It's been said many times that true leadership is measured by ones ability to motivate and influence others. Abe Lincoln: An Extraordinary Leader Perhaps noted as one of the greatest United States presidents of all time, Abraham Lincoln's early life may not have reflected his potential greatness. He failed in business. Leadership - Passion, Purpose, Profit - Its Not That Hard Go to any educational institution, look at airport bookshelves, shopping centres and open your eyes to the myriad of products available today and you could be forgiven to thinking that the art of leadership was beyond mere mortals.After many years in corporate life before starting my own business I finally got the chance to prove for myself what I had always beleived - leadership is simple, it is being a person who has passion, purpose and who uses that to bring others with them on the journey and reaps the rewards. Business Leadership: How Much is in Your Credibility Bank Account? Business leaders have more than a title on their doors. They also have the trust and confidence of those who work for them; who work with them; and who buy from them. Hidden Self Confidence Peer independence is arguably the least understood aspect of self confidence. Many people who are shy, or suffer from social anxiety, tell me that they lack confidence. Five Things Smart Leaders Do to Lower The Barriers To Change Smart leaders understand that they don't "make" a change happen. They recognize that the people in their organization do the work, change behaviors, and, ultimately, make the change happen. Five Steps Towards Greater Self Confidence We watch the star athlete calmly make the final shot, score the winning goal, or lead his team for a touchdown in the final minute of the game. We marvel at their talent and their determination, but what we value and admire most is the supreme confidence they display - they know they will succeed. Fighting the Gravitational Pull of Positional Leadership A little on leadership?Many people enter the leadership world through a position and a title, but we must understand that just owning a title doesn't make you a leader. Being a leader is about influence. What is Leadership? Leadership is what every organization needs and so few have in adequate supply. Part of leadership is what the first President Bush called "the vision thing". In Leadership, The Eight Ways Of Right Action (Part 1) The ancient Greeks had a saying: "When Aschines speaks, the people say, 'How well he speaks,' but when Demosthenes speaks, the people say, 'Let's march against Philip!'".To get the best results as a leader, the people you lead should be saying in one way or the other after you speak, "Let's march!"When you speak to people as a leader, it's not what you say that's really important, what's important is the action people take after you have had your say. Learn How to Lead People "Who rules or guides or inspires others"Having excellent guide skills is one of the most important abilities to possess in today's fast-paced world. We need the support and cooperation of other people to help us in reaching our goals. What Kind of Leader Are You? There are literally millions of words written and spoken each week on enlightened leadership yet the fact remains that low morale, high stress and job dissatisfaction continue to be three of the most serious problems facing the workplace. We seem to be so effectively socialized into top down leadership that we find it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to change our autocratic ways. Choose To Become An Encourager ".. How to Become a Great Leader & Improve Your Leadership Skills A great leader is able to inspire his/her workers to work harder. Instead of firing workers, great leaders know how to fire his/her worker up to do their best. Leadership Training: The Bit They Didn't Tell You About Changing! A willingness to change first is one of the major pre requisites for leaders!If the situation is deadlocked or blocked, they need to find the best opportunity, shift their personal perspective to accommodate it and take action from there. This is no matter how personally attached they are to their current position!Three sixty degree feedback is a great example. Blowing Your Own Leadership Horn There are two streams of competitiveness running through every organization. The first goes outward: It's the organization's competitive activities toward its competitors. Leadership Training and Character The vast majority of leadership training available to managers focuses primarily on skill and behaviors: how to delegate, how to communicate, how to manage conflict. These skills are unquestionably important and necessary. Dissolving Conflict Through Reframing Reframing is looking at the situation with a new set of eyes. Its asking your self if you have a clear picture of the situation and of what is happening around you. Leadership Development and Jumping Out of Airships A German silent film melodrama depicts an airship bombing London during World War I. Lit up by searchlights and strafed by fighters, the crippled airship loses altitude as the captain frantically jettisons dispensable gear to lighten weight. Leaders Click It" Into Gear! "Click It" Into Gear!Ever wonder how two people can be in the same meeting, hear the same speaker communicate the same message - yet once the meeting is over, each person's perception of the event is totally different?Why the different perception? How can one individual think the meeting was terrific and leave completely inspired and motivated, yet the other person walks away believing the total opposite?Answer: "THE CLICK" (More on this in a minute!)Picture yourself being told that your department is about to undergo a major downsizing. (Not a pretty picture, to be sure.
|
| Article List | Index | Site Map |
|
All logos, trademarks and articles on this site are property and copyright of their respective owner(s).
The comments are property of their posters, all the rest is Copyright © 2006 CanadaSEEK.com - All Rights Reserved. |
