Paraphrasing the modern English Dictionary, leadership is the ability and act of influencing a group of people towards a given objective. And while most people would assume that it is just about instructing the group on what should be done, holistic leadership entails more than only instructions. It is about guiding and inspiring others in their duties. Subsequently, inspiration has a lot to do with listening to the grievances and concerns of the ones being led and offering support in times of crisis. Very few leaders understand the importance of this aspect of leadership. One of those leaders happens to be Howard Schultz, the second-time CEO of Starbucks International.
On the midnight of July 6th when he received a phone call from his associate Howard Behar informing him of a crisis that had befallen one of the coffee chain stores in Washington District of Columbia, Schultz reacted in a way that shocked so many people. He did not call the company's public relations department or the lawyers. Important to note is the fact that the CEO at the time was on vacation in New York. Regardless he immediately chartered a plane to Washington D.C. where he spoke with the police department concerning the tragic incident in which three of his partners had been shot shortly after the close of business that evening in what was termed as a failed attempt of robbery (Grimaldi, 1997). Noteworthy, partners, in this case, does not refer to financial investors as is the fact in most businesses but instead refers to the Starbuck employees. It is the company's policy to regard its employees as its partners since their input in the production process is what makes the company's success.
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This act alone speaks so much of the CEO's personality. The CEO then headed straight to the victims' homes one after the other to grieve with the families and friends. Mr. Schultz spent an entire week with them to share in their pain and console with them. While it would have been understandable for such a powerful man to send in a team to look into the incidents and pass on his condolences, he opted to be there in person offering his empathy and working to ensure that the bereaved families were comforted. During the memorial service, the CEO released a statement in which he announced plans to remodel and reopen the coffee shop as living memorial to the slain workers. Furthermore, he pointed out that all future profits from the store would be donated to an organization concerned with violence. And while he regretted their inability to reverse the tragedy, he pledged his support in fighting violence to ensure no such scenario ever occurs again (Lengel, 1997).
This act helped the bereaved families a lot in their healing process. It is never easy going through such a period alone and having someone to share in your grievances helps ease the pain. Many people admired the way the CEO handled the tragic incident. Not only was he present to offer his condolences, but he used the opportunity to preach brotherhood and unite partners from various stores across America. It was during this period that Howard Behar left his former employment and joined Schultz and Orin Smith in the top leadership of Starbucks International. That is how much an impact Schultz actions had on people across different divides. Behar points out that a real leader is one who exercises love, kindness, compassion, gentleness, and empathy. He further explains that any leader who lacks in this quality may have power over others but will never lead from influence and respect, rather from fear (Lee Stallard, 2014).
Leadership is all about being able to handle challenges and crisis and steer a team wisely to safety. During a disaster, it is easier to sink into depression and despair sabotaging the organization in question. It requires more than just administrative skills to save such a situation. While the incident might have defamed the Washington D.C Starbuck store and led to its closure, it served as a challenge in which the CEO's character as a person and a great leader was brought in to test. In as much as it is true that the CEO had hitherto proven himself a great leader judging by the manner in which he regarded and treated his employees as his partners rather than workers, this was going to be a different scenario for any leader. Not only was the business at stake here, so were the lives of his partners and their families. Deciding to forego all other business obligations, he chose to grief passionately as a friend the loss of his partners.
This act benefited the organization internally in the sense that first of all, it brought all the partners together. Many of the partners traveled miles to stand with the families and friends of their fallen partners, using that opportunity to get together with the other partners as a family. Many of them expressed pride and humility being part of such a caring family, praising the company's efforts. This translates to their dedication to their work since it gave them a morale boost. Every worker would like to be part of an organization that cares for their wellbeing and would stand by them during their difficult times. It also built on teamwork and brotherhood since it brought them together as a family. Externally speaking, the CEO and his team received respect and love from the families and friends of the bereaved for their support during the period. Consequently, for initiating a movement against violence, the company proved itself a champion for human rights and security. This act would greatly help in boosting its profitability since it would widen its client base.
So what exactly is the role of compassion and empathy in leadership? It is acts of kindness like Schultz' decision to stand with the families and friends of the slain partners during their grieving period that defines good leadership. It is true that the world's most successful leaders, in whatever field, exhibit compassion and empathy as their strongest attributes. These are not just noble virtues; they are skills that enable leaders to lead effectively by understanding their employees. Compassion is not just about understanding the pains and grievances of others, it also entails empathy, which is the ability to understand another person's feelings which include their opinions on certain issues. Leaders, therefore, need to develop the interpersonal skills that come with empathy to understand and embrace these points of view to create a healthy environment which promotes cooperation and collaboration, factors that are key to effective leadership (Van Dierendonck, 2010). For any success in leadership, there is the need to understand what motivates the employees and learning to see things from their perspective.
Simply put, empathy enables leaders to understand their subject's perspective, and then compassion guides them to act with kindness and concern towards the view. Another factor for leadership is emotional intelligence, which empathy is a core component of. Apart from empathy enabling a leader take into consideration other perspectives as being independent of their own, it also helps build trust and boost performance. Feelings of warmth, trust, and positivity from leaders have been proven to be a key determinant of employee engagement in providing more significant influence on satisfactory output. It is never really about their salary that gets employees excited about their work. Being able to trust a leader has a positive impact on employee performance since it not only improves the quality of the relationship between the two but also reduces conflict thereby enhancing communication and promoting overall wellbeing (Davenport, 2014).
References
Davenport, B. (2014). Compassion, suffering and servant-leadership: Combining compassion and servant-leadership to respond to suffering. Leadership , 11 (3), 300-315. doi: 10.1177/1742715014532481
Grimaldi, J. (1997). Starbucks CEO consoles slaying victims' families -- coffee chain tightens security at D.C.-Area stores. The Seattle Times , p. A single page. Retrieved from http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19970708&slug=2548536
Lee Stallard, M. (2014). The heart of Starbucks' CEO . Retrieved from http://www.michaelleestallard.com/howard-schultzs-broken-heart
Lengel, A. (1997). Starbucks to reopen store where workers died . Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1997/07/16/starbucks-to-reopen-store-where-workers-died/d7ead071-23b7-4c16-9ec3-daec13002557/?utm_term=.30649cc1cf1a
Van Dierendonck, D. (2010). Servant Leadership: A Review and Synthesis. Journal of Management , 37 (4), 1228-1261. doi: 10.1177/0149206310380462
