Not for Teddy Bears

I’m not a teddy bear and I’m certified 100% kumbaya free.

If you know a little about my background – or if you’ve read my stuff long enough – you know that I am not the most touchy-feely guy on the planet. I played and coached football at Navy, I served in the military, and I have 3 engineering degrees and an MBA. Nope – no Teddy Bear in me.

Despite this, one of my leadership strengths is empathy, even though my temperament is not one that tends toward group hugs. It has allowed me to understand WHY members of a team feel the way they do (without getting too personal – this is business, after all), and it’s allowed me to identify all kinds of leadership and team dysfunction on behalf of my clients. Once we identify the problem, we can address it (through coaching, training, or reassignment) and fix the culture problem that suppresses productivity.

Productivity is the point (watch the “Meeting with the Bobs” scene in the movie Office Space to get an idea) - not warm, fuzzy feelings. When I put out a poll a few years ago on leadership characteristics, empathy scored the lowest (4% at the time of this writing), which I guess shouldn’t be a surprise, given the amount of dysfunction most of us have seen out there.

Dysfunctional sports teams don’t win championships; why would anything else be the case for business? Unless you’ve taken steps to become a better leader (coaching / mentorship), you almost certainly have some team dysfunction, fueled somewhat by poor empathy. Don’t worry; you’re in great company!

When it comes to empathy and increasing your organization’s productivity, consider the following:

1. Be very careful with whom you select to lead. Your best leaders aren’t necessarily your most technically competent people. Train and coach them. 
2. Work on your empathy if you want to have a great business. It’s FAR more important than most people think it is.

If you’re ready to improve your business’s performance, give us a call at (202) 640-1908 or e-mail us. Our proven approach has helped thousands of business owners / leaders around the globe, and we can help you, too.
Ingar Grev