{"id":768,"date":"2021-02-15T10:56:11","date_gmt":"2021-02-15T10:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/business-and-society\/?p=768"},"modified":"2021-02-15T10:56:11","modified_gmt":"2021-02-15T10:56:11","slug":"unlocking-empathetic-and-emotional-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/business-and-society\/2021\/02\/15\/unlocking-empathetic-and-emotional-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"Unlocking Empathetic and Emotional Leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"

Veronica Hope Hailey<\/a>, Professor Emeritus of Management Studies at University of Bath, discusses her recent research findings, published in the CIPD report 'Responsible Business Through Crisis'<\/a>. It forms part of the Healthy Work Project<\/a>. This was originally published on the Jericho Chambers website<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

There has been a historical reluctance by some business leaders to see themselves and their businesses as anchored within a wider society, rather than one populated only by share prices and dividends, bottom lines and bonuses.<\/p>\n

COVID has changed that in different ways. It has allowed the humanity of many at senior levels to be revealed because it has brought to the fore the need to acknowledge the interdependency of the business systems we have created, the inequality of risk and reward within those systems and the importance of health, above all else.<\/p>\n

We have all discovered brilliance and inspiration living alongside injustice and inequality of risk. The discovery of the interdependencies within the eco-system \u2013 the reliance of health services on technology companies; large and small businesses finding a two-way reliance on each other in their supply chains; and everyone\u2019s reliance on the broad array of health workers and also food producers and food retailers. In addition, the discovery of the reliance of all of upon the least well-paid in society, who have had to be prepared to risk their health (and thereby the health of their families) by keeping essential services open for the rest of us.<\/p>\n

COVID has made us realise that, whilst we should be \u201call in this together\u201d, we are not. Inequality of risk, protection and reward has become writ large for all of us. It has been there for many decades but has been amplified by the pandemic.<\/p>\n

The Research<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The research was conducted with 44 senior leaders, including Chief Marketing Officers; Chief Financial Officers, HR Directors and Managing Directors.\u00a0 It included eight CEOs. All were interviewed individually between June and August 2020.<\/p>\n

Feedback & Analysis<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cWe have been borrowing from employees \u2013 trading on the equity we have in hearts and goodwill.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Senior leaders had to prioritise the protection of\u00a0all<\/u>\u00a0in their supply chains and eco-systems. Health has arrived\u00a0back<\/em>\u00a0onto the Exec. Board agenda \u2013 both mental and physical health. Senior managers have been brought face to face once again with the reality that every employee has a life: for many a more meaningful life, beyond the workplace.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the end of March we knew we needed to get ready. Our priority was to save as many jobs as possible and protect families and livelihoods.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

CEO<\/em><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n

People do not have a separate work identity, whereby what happens\u00a0beyond<\/em>\u00a0work is not an employer\u2019s concern. It has been difficult for those who aspire to be Responsible Businesses to not confront the needs of those who are poorer or more vulnerable within each workforce during COVID. Instead, everyone\u2019s family and caring responsibilities have become centre stage in trying to prioritise who needs extra protection and extra financial support and also who cannot work from home because home is too dangerous, too unsuitable and\/ or too unhealthy for them to stay in all day.<\/p>\n

Due to the uncertainty of the situation, all sensible and competent C Suite members have had to learn to trust downwards, learning from local managers and staff trying to maintain front line services. In so doing, some senior teams have discovered hidden gems of \u201cpop-up leadership\u201d \u2013 from generous-hearted and able employees who were perhaps miles away from being identified as fitting the top talent identikit in the pre COVID world of talent development.<\/p>\n

In contrast, some have found that a few of those that had been on their fast track listings were not as selfless and benevolent as they might have hoped, instead choosing to spend time arguing with HR about carrying forward holidays or freezing bonuses whilst many around them in society were losing jobs or being furloughed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe amount of resistance I got was really quite nasty at points\u2026 HR is not a role for the faint-hearted. I\u2019m prepared to be unpopular when I\u2019m doing the right things. That can be very hard, especially when I want people to shake themselves. When you look outside our industry and see people on furlough, people losing their jobs, people taking pay cuts, and our employees are frustrated that they\u2019ve lost between one and five days\u2019 holiday that they\u2019ve had 18 months to use.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And yet, the crisis has allowed senior business leaders to share with us their best. Of the 44 business leaders interviewed from June to August 2020, most displayed a concern to \u201cdo no harm\u201d despite the extraordinary and exceptional demands made upon them by the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that ability, then, to pick up, by osmosis, on the mood of the organisation and strike the right note of empathy, understanding, vulnerability, and yes, they<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>believe what you\u2019re saying and trust you, and will have a sense of security, is really complex, particularly when you\u2019re having to do all the sort of osmosis and emoting by these teams. It\u2019s not how it would be, and you\u2019re exhausted.\u201d<\/em>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Chief Marketing Officer<\/em><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Suddenly CEOs, CFOs and HRDs are accessible and being beamed in real-time into our sitting rooms, kitchens and studies. A John Lewis director talked about how this crisis period has helped everyone see people as humans and broken down unhelpful hierarchy.<\/p>\n

Support has increased \u2013 especially for senior leaders who had often harshly held to account without the partners understanding the pressures they were under. All leaders from the 20 businesses interviewed said it had been a time of \u00a0\u201cC-Suite Unfiltered\u201d, with no corporate communications team able to control real life conversations at all levels with CEOs and their teams.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Before COVID) I used to put a bit of personal stuff in there sometimes, but nothing very much. Actually, you ended up getting sent loads of content, so what you were actually putting in it, versus what people wanted to promote, was very little.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI stopped writing in that way when the crisis hit, and made it very personal. So not births, marriages and deaths, kind of thing, but how does it feel? Which weeks did you feel that you had the energy to give hope, and also felt that was what people were wanting, versus the weeks when people wanted permission to go, \u2018this has been a crap week. I actually feel miserable. It\u2019s not like me.'\u201d
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe feedback from that has been so powerful. It just builds a connection and makes it alright to say, \u201cActually, it\u2019s a bit much this week. I need someone to cheer me up,\u201d or, \u201cThis isn\u2019t working. How are we going to make it work?\u201d or listening to different people\u2019s perspectives of what working from is \u2013 the good, the bad and the ugly \u2013 and all of those kinds of things.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course mistakes were made in the crisis but the wish to be seen as human and concerned came through from many.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe learned a lot from that, and have had this conversation, really openly, with branch colleagues and things. We just kind of go, \u201cWe got that wrong, because we hadn\u2019t listened properly to what really mattered and what this really meant. We\u2019d just taken a rational business decision.\u201d That\u2019s what is so important about this, is, how do you retain those sorts of humanity, empathy, aspects when your head is kind of exploding with, \u201cHow are we going to restate our entire financial plan on the basis of a completely different base rate scenario?\u201d and all of those big things, and, \u201cWhat does this mean for society?\u201d
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to keep those different concepts in your head, and lead around that breadth of important stuff every day, at the end of the day, when you\u2019re on your crisis call catch-up\u201d.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some were willing to show their emotional struggles as a leader. The Joint CEO of Day Lewis Pharmacy group talked about how they need to support all their 2,500 employees operating in 280 pharmacies around the country. Maintaining a full service at all their pharmacies throughout the crisis, meant risk and confronting difficult patients for frontline staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing how visible the exec directors had to be during this time. I have done so many videos to my organisation. So, one\u2026 I was almost crying in one of them because I just really felt sad. What had happened was that I was driving into work and one of my colleagues messaged on a WhatsApp group, saying, \u201cCan you believe it, a patient has thrown eggs at the pharmacy?\u201d (probably because they weren\u2019t open when they wanted or something like it, or they hadn\u2019t got the medicine on time). And so, I called the pharmacy, I said, \u201cLook:\u201d I said, \u201cEverything alright?\u201d She gos,:\u201cI\u2019m so upset,\u201d and she was crying. I said, \u201cLook, that\u2019s just one patient, you\u2019re doing such amazing work, you\u2019ve got to hang in there, I\u2019m so sorry that has happened, are you okay? Do you need to just close for a few hours? Shall I send a cleaner?\u201d I was not going to be able to see them, I was nowhere near. And then I did this video and I was telling the story about it and I got teary because I was thinking, \u201cI understand that. I understand these people are putting their kids\u2026 they\u2019re leaving their families, they\u2019re going to help the community and then they get eggs thrown at them, it\u2019s just heart breaking.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Joint CEO, Day Lewis Pharmacy.<\/em><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In sum, for many leaders involved in the research, COVID was seen as the trigger for a different kind of senior leadership: one that actually reveals themselves as concerned human beings \u2013 not just vulnerable \u2013 but relating to employees, customers and suppliers on a personal as well as professional basis.<\/p>\n

Seeing the human and the societal in front of you? Perhaps, on conclusion,\u00a0 this is best summed up by a Nationwide director:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all talk about leadership and showing vulnerability and all of those kinds of things, but they\u2019ve been \u2013 I don\u2019t know \u2013 a bit more of a theoretical exercise than the reality of when everybody is feeling vulnerable and you\u2019re living through extraordinary times, and that sort of rollercoaster of how you feel and where you get bursts of optimism about what the future could look like. Or how precious things are that you had taken for granted, and all of that stuff. Or just the honesty of going, \u201cSome of it\u2019s a bit crap. I feel a bit crap, and I\u2019m no different from the rest of you in thinking, \u2018I don\u2019t know what to do. I\u2019d like to do it differently.'\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Find out more about Veronica's work on responsible business, by reading her recent report for the CIPD on 'Responsible Business through Crisis'.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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