Release Date: January 18, 2022

Leadership is hard. How can you balance compassion for your people with effectiveness in getting the job done?

A global pandemic, economic volatility, natural disaster, civil and political unrest. From New York to Barcelona to Hong Kong, it can feel as if the world as we know it is coming apart. Through it all, our spirit is being tested. Now more than ever, it's imperative for leaders to demonstrate compassion.

Our Speakers

Ellyn Shook

Chief Leadership and Human Resources Officer
Accenture

Rasmus Hougaard

Founder and CEO
Potential Project

Adi Ignatius

Editor-in-Chief
Harvard Business Review

Release Date: January 18, 2022

Leadership is hard. How can you balance compassion for your people with effectiveness in getting the job done?

Interested in how to make your world
of work more human?

Let's Be In Touch

About the Book

Using data from thousands of leaders, employees, and companies in nearly 100 countries, Potential Project found that when leaders bring the right balance of compassion and wisdom to work, they foster much higher levels of employee engagement, performance, loyalty, and well-being.

Compassionate Leadership: How to Do Hard Things in a Human Way is a practical and inspiring book for leaders who know that these times call for a radically different kind of leadership, one that draws on courage, candor, wisdom and compassion.

We invite you to explore and learn more here.

Omni-Connected Experiences

Our devices may be always on. But our research found that only one in six people feels highly connected—in a human sense—at work. And not just connected to their organization, but to the people they work for and with.

Trust within teams is declining, too. Only one in five people feels comfortable sharing problems or raising conflicts with colleagues. Only one in four report that leaders are responsive to their needs, communicate regularly and feels that team members are treated equally.
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Technology has and continues to be an essential accelerator of human connection—helping people learn, collaborate and turn data to insight. Organizations now must take the next step and turn these interactions into omni-connected experiences that create value for both people and business.

Key Takeaways

As we discussed the Great Reevaluation of Work, Ellyn emphasized that employees are prioritizing flexibility – not just in where they work, but also in how and why they work. Both speakers agreed that organizations need to rethink whether they are really delivering on the fundamental needs for belonging, connection and purpose.
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‍Many participants shared that their company’s culture has been struggling for the past 2.5 years with hybrid and remote work. Ellyn challenged the group to not associate culture with a space or place but to root it in a sense of caring. Rasmus explained how leaders can show up in more caring ways – by mastering the four attributes of presence, candor, courage and transparency.

‍Finally, the panelists discussed how critical it is for leaders to unlearn management and to relearn human. As Rasmus shared, this means letting go of the old idea that you have to be tough or kind as a leader and accepting that a leader can and must be both.Ellyn explained that doing this means having the humility to let go of how you’ve always worked and to learn something new.

Watch a full replay of Leadership Reimagined.