Is compassion in leadership more or less important during a crisis?

In normal times, compassionate leaders foster an environment of psychological safety, encouraging more loyalty and engagement from their team members, and so creating high performing teams.

However, I would argue, compassionate leadership becomes doubly important during a crisis.

In times of crisis, when people are feeling overwhelmed, uncertain and even fearful or the future, it should be the first priority of leaders to address these fears their teams face.

When a crisis hits, leaders may be tempted to dig in and act decisively to show that they have things covered.

Although it can be challenging, I suggest it is essential for leaders to ‘connect to self’ by tuning into how they are feeling and use this to help their teams to process their own emotions.

Read more in chapter 3 of my book which you can access here.