As leaders, it is essential to prioritize empathy and care for others, including employees and customers. However, many leaders forget to radiate the same level of compassion to themselves when they make mistakes. This can lead to burnout, stress and a lack of overall well-being.
To counter this, leaders must learn to give themselves grace and forgiveness when they inevitably make mistakes. Below, 15 businesskinda.com Business Council members offer their best tips for leaders who want to show more compassion. Follow their recommendations so you can take better care of yourself, improve your mental health and well-being, and ultimately become a better leader for your team.
Members pictured from left to right.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.
Contents
- 1 1. Recognize your limits
- 2 2. Take a friend’s perspective
- 3 3. Lead with empathy
- 4 4. Be understanding when acknowledging mistakes
- 5 5. Take care of yourself
- 6 6. Self-reflection
- 7 7. Focus on the big picture
- 8 8. Know your goals
- 9 9. Don’t be afraid of mistakes
- 10 10. Be real, not perfect
- 11 11. Make it a learning opportunity
- 12 12. Give yourself a rest
- 13 13. Practice humility
- 14 14. Find support
- 15 15. Schedule time for yourself to regroup
1. Recognize your limits
To get good, you have to allow yourself to take risks and fail. It’s like struggling without ever tapping if you never take a chance and fail. My best advice is to recognize your limits and give yourself the same grace you offer others. Find out when it’s time to drain and come back refreshed the next day. – Jordan Edwards, Mixology Clothing Company
2. Take a friend’s perspective
Self-compassion is a key to dealing with adversity, but it is often a learned skill and not something that comes naturally to leaders. To practice self-compassion, it’s important to look at adversity from a friend’s perspective to be kinder and more empathetic to yourself. It’s also important to reach out to others, not for validation, but to review your perspective and build connection. – Sindhu Kutty, Kuroshio advice
businesskinda.com Business Council is the leading growth and networking organization for entrepreneurs and leaders. Am I eligible?
3. Lead with empathy
Many female founders have been conditioned to view empathy as a weakness in business. On the contrary, showing grace and being caring (to others and to yourself) creates opportunities for growth. In my 20+ years in this role, I’ve seen how leading a company with empathy fosters a healthy and collaborative workplace where team members are trusted to contribute and take risks. – Mimi Doe, Highest level admissions
4. Be understanding when acknowledging mistakes
Be kind and understanding to yourself. To do this, acknowledge your mistakes, try to see things in a positive light, learn from what happened, and set achievable goals. Taking care of yourself — through things like exercise, mindfulness, and spending time with loved ones — can also help you have more self-compassion. – Chuck Leblo, Interaction one
5. Take care of yourself
Remember that you have nothing to do without your body or your whole self. Give yourself at least 5% of the grace you give clients and team members and watch your attitude change. It can feel very isolated at the top when running an organization, so time for self-care and reflection should be a frequent event on the calendar. – Ginni Saraswati, Gini Media
6. Self-reflection
Making time for self-reflection is absolutely essential. It can be difficult to see the wood for the trees. Self-reflection gives you the grace to take responsibility for mistakes without allowing negative emotions (such as guilt or shame) to cloud your judgment. Whether you attend church, play golf, or meditate, it is recommended that you step away from busy environments to take time to think on a higher level. – Chris Gerlach, Synergy Life Sciences
7. Focus on the big picture
Take a moment to pause and accept the mistake you made. Accepting means learning and caring. When you reflect on the journey and effort you’ve taken to get to where you are today, you’ll see that mistakes are an important part of your growth. Don’t dwell on what you did wrong. Instead, keep your focus on your success and the big picture. – Michael Podolski, PissedConsumer.com
8. Know your goals
Knowing your goals – personal and professional – is key to staying focused on the big picture. Nobody is perfect. Doing everything for your growing company is not possible. And if that wasn’t enough, some of the best innovations come from the need for creative solutions. – Nelle Callahan, Frontwood Strategies
9. Don’t be afraid of mistakes
A mistake made today can get in the way of a failure tomorrow. You rarely learn without gaining experience; so without trying, there is no learning. Admitting mistakes at the same time refreshes you and helps you let things go. The more you fear them, the more damage they do when they happen. No one is perfect, but getting better happens as we learn and grow. Mistakes are part of that path. – Aslak de Silva, Shop yourself
10. Be real, not perfect
Be real; don’t be perfect. Leaders often feel they have the weight of the world on their shoulders and one misstep will cause the world to collapse around them. Stop that. Allow yourself to be yourself in your true form. Mistakes will happen, so let them be and stop striving for perfection. – Deyman Doolittle, ShipSigma
11. Make it a learning opportunity
For every mistake made, there is a lesson or adjustment to be learned. Being an effective leader means taking risks, trying new things and, by default, making mistakes. Allow yourself to make mistakes and then take the time to learn from them. – Pursue Flashman, ShipSigma
12. Give yourself a rest
Don’t allow yourself to get so stressed and bogged down that you no longer feel sorry for yourself, your employees or your customers. From running a 34 year old company, I understand this well. It’s vital not to get overwhelmed and stay “human” by working eight-hour shifts, going home, and getting plenty of rest for body and mind. Stay humble, not self-centered. – Tammy sons, Tn Nursery
13. Practice humility
Harness the power of a humble approach to error. Giving yourself grace is about understanding that mistakes are learning opportunities rather than failures. The example you set for your team is motivating in itself. By normalizing mistakes, leaders can create a supportive culture where people are not ashamed of making mistakes. Instead, they learn how to own it and move on. – Ronke Komolafe, Integrated physical and behavioral health alliance
14. Find support
Leaders can give themselves grace when they make mistakes by adopting a growth mindset, practicing self-compassion, and seeking support from others. Reframe mistakes as opportunities for growth and learning, treat yourself with kindness, and seek help when needed. There is always room to learn and grow when you make a mistake. Always move forward. – Kir Linington, Linear Roofing and General Contractors, LLC
15. Schedule time for yourself to regroup
Today’s business environment is super competitive and unforgiving. I sin in the same way, but over the past few years I’ve developed my own retreats from things I enjoy doing to have some “me time.” This helps me to regroup myself and my thoughts. – Rotem Eylor, Republic floor
Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.