1.
Compassionate Leadership:
Coaching Leaders to Turn
Empathy into Action
Maria D. Brown, Ph.D.
Head of Research
MRG

2.
Host
Lucy Sullivan
Head of Marketing, MRG
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3.
A Brief Introduction
Maria Brown, PhD
Head of Research, MRG
Management Research Group is a global leader in designing
assessments that foster a deep self-awareness and impact people in
profound and meaningful ways with solutions for Leadership,
Personal Development, Sales and Service.
MRG conducts extensive research on effective leadership behavior,
leveraging a database of more than 1.2 million assessment
participants.

4.
Agenda
1. Business Case for
Compassion
2. New Research:
– Empathetic Leadership
– Compassionate Leadership
3. The Role of 360 Feedback
in the Development of
Empathy and Compassion
4. Summary and Takeaways

5.
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The Business Case
for
Compassionate
Leadership
Why are we here?

6.
The contemporary workplace is demanding,
and the separation between work and life is
becoming ever so small.
This increases the likelihood for individual
distress.
Employee Distress is a Real Problem

7.
Work related
Downsizing
Coworker dynamics
Mergers
Life related
Death in the family
Children
Financial issues
Sources of Distress

8.
Additive Effects
One big source can result in high levels of
distress.
Many small sources can add up to high levels of
distress.

9.
Path to Compassion
Noticing that
someone is
suffering
“I can see that
you’re in
distress.”
Feeling
empathetic
concern
“I feel bad
that you’re
suffering.”
Responding
with
compassion
“I am going
to do
something to
relieve it.”

10.
The receiver of the
compassionate act
 Physical and psychological
healing
 Reduced anxiety and stress
 Sense of being valued
 Tendency to shed a positive
light on events
 Reduction of compassion
fatigue
The giver of the
compassionate act
 Gaining a prosocial identity
 Being seen as a strong leader
 Meaningful connections
Compassionate Leadership’s Positive Impact

11.
The organization as a whole as a result of
witnessing compassion
 Greater employee commitment
 Pride in the organization
 Increased drive toward professional development
 Reduction in punitive actions toward others
 Openness to receiving help
 Organization-wide resilience
Compassionate Leadership’s Positive Impact

12.
Audience Poll
Does the need for leaders to be compassionate come up in
your practice?
A.Rarely
B.Sometimes
C.Often

13.
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Helping Leaders
Develop Empathy
and Compassion
New Research

14.
In the path to compassion, leaders
need to first develop empathy.
What are the advantages of demonstrating empathy?
What behaviors are associated with empathy?

15.
The ultimate goal is compassion.
What advantages (if any) does compassion have over
empathy?
What are the behaviors that differentiate compassion
from empathy?

16.
Participants

17.
22 Leadership
Behaviors
Specific, discrete, observable
actions
Example:
Feedback – Providing specific
and direct reaction to others’
thoughts, ideas, actions and
performance
Where do the data come from?
LEA 360™: the Leadership Effectiveness Analysis
A multi-rater leadership assessment used in more than 40 countries, with more than 1 million total participants from
around the world.
31 Leadership
Competencies
A set of several behaviors used
effectively in combination to deliver
a certain outcome
Example:
Ability to develop people (i.e., allows
room for mistakes, stimulates growth,
challenges positively, delegates
authority)

18.
LEA Behaviors
CREATING A
VISION
Conservative
Innovative
Technical
Self
Strategic
DEVELOPING
FOLLOWERSHIP
Persuasive
Outgoing
Excitement
Restraint
IMPLEMENTING
Tactical
Structuring
Communication
Delegation
FOLLOWING
THROUGH
Control
Feedback
ACHIEVING
RESULTS
Management Focus
Dominant
Production
TEAM PLAYING
Cooperation
Consensual
Authority
Empathy

19.
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Empathetic
Leadership
NEW RESEARCH FINDINGS

20.
Empathetic Leadership: The Definition
Empathy was measured behaviorally
Empathetic leaders were perceived by others as being
mostly:
 Sympathetic
 Sensitive and kind
 Concerned about the welfare of others
 Genuinely interested in others

21.
Empathetic Leadership: The Method
• Each participant received a single score for each behavior and competency
measured by the LEA 360™
• Scores were calculated as weighted (by rater group) means of observer
ratings
• The LEA 360™ measure of Empathy was used to categorize participants into
two groups:
• Groups were then compared on LEA behaviors and competency items
Top 35%
High Empathy
Other 65%

22.
Leadership competencies associated with
empathetic leadership

23.
Behaviors that characterize empathetic
leaders: Median score profiles by group

24.
How do you coach leaders to be more
empathetic?
Coach leaders to place less emphasis on behaviors
associated with making decisions independently,
following through on projects and tasks, and
achieving results.
Key behaviors to decrease:
• Control
• Feedback
• Management focus
• Dominant
• Production
• Self

25.
Coach leaders to behave in ways that foster
collaboration and welcome input from others
during the decision-making process.
Key behaviors to increase:
• Cooperation
• Outgoing
• Consensual
How do you coach leaders to be more
empathetic?

26.
Why can’t we stop coaching once leaders
show high levels of empathy?
There is an advantage to being an empathetic leader.
Empathetic leaders were rated higher on leadership
competencies related to people skills and cognitive
skills associated with perspective taking.
However… it also did not confer an advantage
in terms of business or broader cognitive
skills.

27.
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Compassionate
Leadership
NEW RESEARCH FINDINGS

28.
Compassionate Leadership:
The Definition
Compassion is empathy in action.
Defining compassion in an organizational settings:
 Ability to develop people
 Ability to work with diverse people
 Demonstrates ethical leadership
Compassionate leadership was defined as scoring in
the top 50% on all three of these competencies.

29.
Studying Compassionate Leadership:
The Method
• Only High Empathy leaders were included in this study.
• Participants were categorized into two groups:
• We made sure the two groups had the same level of Empathy
• Groups were compared on LEA behaviors and competency items
High Compassion Other

30.
Leadership competencies associated with
compassionate leadership

31.
Behaviors that characterize compassionate
leaders: Median score profiles by group

32.
How do you coach empathetic leaders to
become compassionate leaders?
Coach leaders to avoid overusing outgoing
behaviors.
Coach leaders to be less reliant on organizational
norms and people in positions of authority
Key behaviors to reduce:
• Outgoing
• Deference to Authority

33.
How do you coach empathetic leaders to
become compassionate leaders?
Coach leaders to be more open to changing conventions.
Coach leaders to take charge and seek to be influential;
consider the implications of their actions;
communicate clearly; maintain specialized
knowledge.
Key behaviors to increase:
• Innovative
• Management focus
• Strategic
• Communication
• Technical

34.
How do you motivate empathetic leaders to
become compassionate leaders?
Motivate change by sharing the advantages of
compassionate leadership.
Compassionate leaders were rated higher than their less
compassionate counterparts on all but one leadership effectiveness
measure.
When empathetic leaders are also compassionate, they outperform
other empathetic leaders on most measures of cognitive, people and
business skills.

35.
Questions

36.
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The Role of
Feedback in the
Development of
Empathy and
Compassion
Why 360 Assessments are
Essential to Development

37.
Prepare for Roadblocks by Focusing on
Self-Awareness
Less empathetic and less compassionate leaders
scored lower on self-awareness than their more
competent counterparts.
Self-awareness is critical for development, so leaders who are
rated as less self-aware might need some extra help.
This help can come in the form of 360 feedback to
overcome potential blind spots.

38.
Potential Blind Spots for High Empathy, Low
Compassion Leaders

39.
Coaching to overcome potential blind spots
when developing compassion
Watch out for behaviors where leaders and observers are
likely to have different perceptions.
Less compassionate leaders tend to overestimate how much
they emphasize some behaviors associated with compassion:
• Taking charge (management focus)
• Acquiring and maintaining up-to-date expertise (technical)
• Being comfortable taking risks (innovative)
To appear more compassionate, leaders should not be too informal
and friendly (outgoing). Coaches may need to help leaders recognize
how outgoing they appear to others.

40.
Coaching to overcome potential blind spots
when developing compassion
Less compassionate leaders underestimate their emphasis on
clarity of communication when compared to observer
perceptions.
Maintaining this behavior pattern - while developing other
compassionate behaviors - is key.

41.
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The path to
compassion
Key takeaways

42.
Positive Impact of Compassion
Empathy is related to effectiveness
Leaders who demonstrate empathy outperform other
leaders in 17 out of 31 leadership impact measures
Compassion is related to even greater effectiveness
Compassionate leaders outperform other empathetic
leaders on 30 out of 31measures of cognitive, people and
business skills.

43.
Path to Compassion
To appear more empathetic:
Emphasize collaboration and
working in a friendly, informal
manner without placing too
much emphasis on process
and results
To appear more
compassionate:
Take charge and rely on their
expertise when it matters.
Consider broad
consequences, and be open to
change and breaking
conventions. Be clear
without being overly
informal

44.
Questions

45.
Upcoming Events with MRG
CertificationsWebinars
IDI™ for AsiaPac
Starts April 15
LEA 360™
Starts April 23
Personal Directions®
for AsiaPac
Starts May 6
IDI™
Starts June 9
Personal Directions®
Starts June 30
Motivation and Self-Regulation: How Self-
Awareness and Observation can Increase
our Inner Resilience
April 29
Leading the Way Forward in Unprecedented
Times
May 13
Employee Engagement: Practical
Approaches to Building and Sustaining
Higher Levels of Performance and
Commitment
May 20

46.
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Thank you.
Stay in touch.
research@mrg.com