We are surrounded by fear-based motivation. Marketers create a fear of missing out. Politicians promise disaster if their opponent wins. It seems to work. So it’s not surprising that many organizational leaders use this approach, too. Fear is not our only motivator, however. We have at least two motivation systems: our protective survival instincts based on fear of harm, and our nurturing instincts based on the attraction of supportive relationships and growth. Which primary motivating force do you want to tap into?
For compassionate leaders, evidence points to the benefits of focusing on the growth-oriented motivations of healthy relationships and support. In order to promote flourishing, leaders need to create psychological safety, encourage creative exploration, and respond with an attitude that treats failure as a learning opportunity.
Compassionate leaders create environments of psychological safety
Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson’s groundbreaking psychological safety research studied the relationship between medical errors and long-term patient outcomes. Among the teams she studied, she found that the best medical outcomes came from teams that reported the most errors. This seems counter-intuitive. Edmondson realized that she wasn’t measuring medical errors, she was measuring reported errors. Her conclusion, which has subsequently been reinforced by substantial evidence, is that an environment that permits people to speak up freely without fear of punishment creates the best results.
Compassionate leaders create these environments of psychological safety where people are able to speak up. When they receive bad news, compassionate leaders are appreciative for the new information, and don’t “shoot the messenger.” They not only give team members permission to offer different views and opinions, but they also solicit these alternative viewpoints.
Psychological safety is as much about the form of expression as it is the content. Individuals have varying degrees of comfort with different forms of speaking up. For some people, it is easy to speak up in a large meeting, while others prefer to talk one-to-one. Some people find written expression easier than spoken. Compassionate leaders recognize these differences and seek to accommodate them, when possible. This has the benefit of allowing each team member to feel that they belong just as they are.
Supportive environments promote creativity and innovation
What happens when teams operate in an environment of fear? Team members focus on avoiding failure and negative consequences. Decision processes become highly risk averse. People don’t speak up unless they feel that what they have to say is completely safe. Our fear-based emotions close down our field of vision and we are simply focused on survival.
On the other hand, a more understanding environment opens up the individual and team field of vision and possibility. Without fear of failure, people sense the freedom to consider solutions to problems that might be “outside the box.” When this type of free thinking is encouraged in the appropriate degree, creativity and innovation flourish. Imagine all the unrealized potential that is waiting to be unleashed! Research has established that creativity and innovation are one of the most valuable outcomes of compassionate leadership and successful organizations.
Mistakes and failures are golden learning opportunities
Compassionate leaders create learning environments. In many organizational mindsets, learning implies a deficit. A compassionate environment acknowledges that none of us know all there is to know – and that’s OK! Creating a learning environment encourages and supports people asking, “Can I get some help on this?” Asking for help is especially hard for leaders and high achievers who view it as a weakness. Making a supportive, collaborative culture the norm strengthens relationships, builds trust, reduces stress, and delivers better outcomes.
Fear-based cultures cause employees to avoid the risk of failure at all costs. Healthy organizations normalize experimentation, trying things that might or might not work. When things succeed, there is a large benefit. When things fail, however, flourishing, growing organizations use that failure to learn. No one wants to fail or make mistakes. How leaders respond when mistakes occur can make all the difference in future performance. We can berate and shame someone who makes a mistake, making them afraid of making another mistake in the future, or we can acknowledge the failure supportively, helping them to learn from it, and grow in the future.
In closing…
Take a moment to pause and notice how you are feeling right now. Do you feel constricted and afraid anywhere in your mind or body? Are you feeling like there is opportunity ahead, and you are ready to take on the challenges that are required to develop that opportunity? How you feel is most likely how you will lead. Lead yourself with compassion, and you will find your own sense of safety, creativity, and resilience grow. Then you will be perfectly positioned to lead your team the same way.