Motivational Intelligence (MQ): Empathy and Trust Leadership
To become an empathetic leader, there are some essential facts to know about your team, which help to build a relationship but also help to bring out the best in the people around you. Knowing this, you can make your team feel valued and supported by understanding their strength and weaknesses. So, to get started with an Empathic Leadership approach, ask yourself the following questions:
Do you know where your team members excel?
Do you know their areas of expertise?
Or what do they struggle with?
Do you know what’s important to them and why they get up in the morning?
Do you know what they’re passionate about and what makes them tick?
Have you ever taken the time to sit with your team members and find out what’s important to them and make it important to you?
The most outstanding leaders I’ve had in my career could answer these questions about me….and because of that, they were a pleasure to work with and for.
They made me want to work harder than ever without telling me to work harder because they helped me feel valued, supported and understood in the workplace.
You know, it’s mostly never about the money that drives you; it’s about that feeling of being trusted that inspired you to want to be the best and develop the best in the people you lead. Without TRUST, there is no inspiration.
“Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.” – STEPHEN R. COVEY.
Knowing these things is part of being a great leader and bringing out the best in the people around you.
Empathetic leadership
Leading with empathy and trust is a vastly overlooked skill. Knowing our people, understanding our team members, identifying with them and learning what inspires them. These are all vitally essential leadership traits.
Empathetic and trusting leadership is about showing you care and creating trust within your team…. trust builds an empowering, honest relationship with your colleagues. It opens the door for all to reach their full or unlimited potential. It breeds a culture of trust and inspiration across the team and the business.
“Empathy is being concerned about the human being, not just their output.” — Simon Sinek.
Most importantly, it all comes back to our relationship with our team members. They will only embrace a culture of trust if they genuinely feel you are authentic with your connection. The stronger and more optimistic that relationship is, the better we all work together and the greater the results we will produce.
Empathy builds human connection….and it feels great to connect with others positively.
Empathy and Trust through motivational intelligence (MQ)
Empathetic and trusting leaders have a higher level of motivational intelligence – they recognise the importance of building relationships and have a growth mindset, which means they always want to learn and improve their leadership skills. They exhibit positive traits such as resilience, commitment and adaptability to set a positive example in their leadership style.
Something else they all have in common is that they’re all human. Sometimes as leaders, we struggle to share our human side. Maybe we see it as a weakness. In reality, it’s a strength. Some of us see it as something that will hold us back in business when in reality, it will help grow our business. When we display a more empathetic leadership style, we also teach those around us to adopt that approach.
“The people you are leading have big expectations of you. They want you to be perfect and often forget that you are human. But the more human you are with them, the more trust and empathy they lend to you. They understand you better. That gives you the ability to do so much more, as people give you the benefit of the doubt.” ————-Alain Bejjani.
Six Empathetic and Trusting Leadership Traits: “Trust & Inspire.”
Here are six key points to focus on to become a more empathetic, trusting and inspirational leader.
1- Ask great questions to understand better your team, their needs and what drives them.
2- Become an excellent listener; listen to hear, not to answer.
3- Give your team members your full attention when they’re speaking to you. Put your phone away, turn your screen off, and show your undivided attention.
4- Try to imagine problems or challenges from your team member’s perspective instead of thinking about them from your point of view.
5- Set clear boundaries in how you like to be treated and encourage your colleagues to do the same
6- Challenge your biases – talk to people who are similar to you but also to people with different perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds.
By doing this, you will learn from them and build a stronger relationship with all the people you work with.
Always remember this:
Leaders ASK great questions of themselves and others.
Managers TELL people what they should or should not do.
Let me ask you a question: When was the last time you asked a great question of yourself and others rather than telling people what they should or should not do?
Probably not often enough!
“Good leaders ask great questions that inspire others to dream more, think more, learn more, do more, and become more.” ― John C. Maxwell.
Motivational intelligence (MQ) is crucial to becoming a better, more empathetic, trusting and successful leader.
At The Power Within, we run the world’s first and only SQA-approved programme in Leading With Motivational Intelligence, “Trust & Inspire Leadership”, which helps leaders and emerging leaders develop their growth mindset, team coherence and achieve their true unlimited potential.
“It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.” – NAPOLEON HILL.
This framework’s heart is how we build great teams, lead and inspire them, and grow our team and business to achieve tremendous success. If you’re a leader who would like to improve your leadership style to help achieve your goals, then we can help you and your team think bigger, do better and achieve more.
The Power Within was created to help people think bigger, be better and achieve more than they ever thought possible in finding business motivation!
All our programmes – including our worlds-first Executive Diploma in Leading With Motivational Intelligence (MQ) and our Business Growth Academy – have been created with passion and commitment to our mission. If you’re a business leader struggling to thrive and be the best you can be…then we can help.
Click the link below to learn more about how we can help you achieve your desired business success.
James Fleming
The Power Within Training,
The Motivational Intelligence Company
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