While culture may lionize iconoclastic, larger-than-life leaders, often it’s the more human bosses who build the strongest teams.
People need to work together for ideas to be put into action, and the better a leader understands their team’s dynamic, the more equipped they are to steer it toward success.
No matter the size of the organization, this recognition has to start on the individual level by acknowledging the unique strengths and circumstances of every employee.
“It’s incredibly difficult to be effective when you don’t have a holistic understanding of an individual or a foundational relationship to build from,” Max Powers, chief customer officer at CreatorIQ, tells Built In Los Angeles.
By contrast, she says, putting in the effort to forge these relationships helps people feel inspired and motivated to do their best work.
It doesn’t take an iron fist to encourage individual drive; in fact, research suggests that empathetic leadership has a positive effect not only on employees’ well-being but also on their performance. With security and support, they’re more likely to be engaged with their work and feel safe exercising their creativity.
“Prioritizing the team's needs creates a culture of support and appreciation,” says Paul Thorndyke, U.S. delivery leader at Technossus. “This leads to improved morale and job satisfaction as team members feel valued and recognized for their contributions.”
Read on for more on their people-first strategies and the tangible results they’ve seen.
CreatorIQ helps brands and agencies effectively discover, manage and measure their influencer marketing campaigns.
Describe one of the principles, habits or rituals that differentiates your unique approach to leadership.
One of the leadership traits that I do my best to embody is leading with empathy. I try to take the time to understand someone’s perspective and where they are coming from by asking questions and truly listening. I’ve found that investing that time up front helps leaps and bounds in performance and maximizing time and effort.
I like to know what's happening in each individual's work — and, when appropriate, personal life — to make sure that I’m identifying the best way to support them at that moment. This understanding has made me less reactive and prone to making assumptions and more patient and effective in coaching overall and working across teams.
What differences did you notice after you adopted this principle in your leadership?
It was a slow evolution in approach, likely as I became more confident in my personal leadership style. In the beginning, I was told I was too soft or too nice — ironically, too empathetic — but I found that I was able to drive extraordinary results out of everyday team members, identifying the best way to motivate them when they needed it or letting them be when they didn’t.
Early on, I recall preparing to support a manager's request to put someone on a performance improvement plan. I asked to have a skip-level one-on-one with that individual first, and through asking many questions, I realized that for a mom with three kids, spending an hour and a half in traffic each way was not time-efficient or helping her be her best self. This was pre-Covid, but we decided to adjust her days in the office and structure her hours to avoid LA traffic. Her stress relief was palpable, and she became one of our top performers. So that lesson — taking the time to understand someone’s world just a bit better was a win-win for all of us.
[Taking] the time to understand someone’s world just a bit better was a win-win for all of us.”
What does this approach to leadership help you and your teams accomplish?
I believe that this style of leadership has helped me build a much more cohesive team, where individuals genuinely feel understood and related to and where there’s an intent to bring out their best individual selves. It comes from within, and they feel like a part of something bigger.
I also try to coach the team to apply a similar style when working cross-team and with clients, helping them focus on understanding who they’re speaking with and what motivates them and taking the time to build relationships. This allows people in all roles to be so much more effective, but also to have a more meaningful and exciting job in the process.
Technossus is a software development and technology consulting company that guides businesses through digital transformation.
Describe one of the principles, habits or rituals that differentiates your unique approach to leadership.
I have always seen myself as a servant leader. I focus on the needs and growth of my team and strive to be a good listener, show empathy and find ways to empower them to be more engaged and motivated.
Early in my career, I was fortunate enough to have a mentor that led in this fashion and they really helped me accelerate my career growth. At a certain point, they determined that I may be best served by a mentor with a different mindset and focus, and they worked with me to establish that new relationship. Thinking of my needs over theirs demonstrated that they truly had my best interest in mind. Their guidance and support were invaluable, and they remain a friend and advisor to this day.
What differences did you notice after you adopted this new principle in your leadership?
As I began to adopt the principles of being a servant leader, I found that I built trust more readily with my team and saw increased performance. By prioritizing the needs of my team members, we built a sense of mutual respect and the team was stronger as a unit.
A great example was after my organization acquired another company, and I had an additional half a dozen team members added to my group. The way they were used to working was quite different from how we operated, so they struggled to fully understand our working norms. I needed to ensure we could get them up to speed quickly and added to our projects, so I dedicated extra time to each team member to understand their strengths and growth areas.
For some, the transition was easy, but for others, a large mindset shift needed to occur. I set them up with buddies on our existing team to help bring them along on the journey, and in just a few weeks, we had a strong, cohesive group. You couldn’t tell who had come in as part of the acquisition and who had been around for years.
Creating a positive work environment empowers team members to take ownership of their work.”
What does this approach to leadership help you and your teams accomplish?
Increased productivity, better collaboration, improved team morale and increased innovation are just some of the results I have seen from employing these deliberate practices. Creating a positive work environment empowers team members to take ownership of their work, which often leads to a boost in both productivity and creativity.
