Compassion Builds, Judgement Breaks
Accountability and Compassion are not mutually exclusive.
Leaders and managers are commonly disempowered in following up, using the convenient crutch of ‘too busy’ to go deeper than “how’s that project coming along?”
Most leaders either:
– judge their people covertly and follow up politely, or
– judge their people overtly and follow up dominantly.
Neither approach effective, empowering or honouring of the being behind the doing.
Holding people accountable to their responsibilities, commitments and agreed expectations, does not require force, coercion, dominance or pleading. It does not require control, manipulation or hours of procrastination.
Powerful accountability conversations that move and grow everyone forward together, become a natural flow of a leader’s vocabulary when the integrity and influence of Compassion over Judgement is understood.
When leaders judge their people based on behaviour, the potential for growth and engagement in their people is stifled.
But when leaders invest well in their own growth, they can develop the skills, ability and presence of emotionally intelligent leadership. Holding people accountable in a way that grows trust and expands results.
Compassion builds, judgement breaks.
