Whether you think about it or not, every single person on your team has the power to either positively or negatively impact revenues and profits. Every. Single. Day. Every single customer interaction and every internal action has a net consequence.

The million-dollar question is, how do you lead your team to maximize the positive impact they have on driving revenue and profits? And, of course, minimize the negative impact, in all the ways both negative performance and negative attitude can?

Yes, you want to make sure that your team is well trained technically on their job responsibilities, and are held to high, clear standards for job performance, with clarity on the vision for the company.

But when it comes to how you treat your employees, Compassionate Leadership brings powerful benefits to both the day-to-day enjoyment of the workplace and the top and bottom of your P&L.

Popularized by the mindfulness movement, Compassionate Leadership is a leadership style and leadership skill set that means you authentically care about and respect each person that you are leading.

When people feel authentically valued and cared for, they are more likely to feel safe, be vulnerable, take risks, innovate, collaborate, and overall be happy on the job. They also are more likely to trust and respect the leader in return. This mutual trust and respect enables positive synergy and spreads positivity to your customers … creating a culture of optimism, creativity, inspiration, innovation, and excellence.

Looking for new ideas to drive revenues? Collaborative problem solving to streamline operations? Passion and inspiration to care about the customer experience? All these elements have real impacts on the revenue and profits of an organization.

So what exactly does Compassionate Leadership entail?

Empathy is a core component of Compassionate Leadership—the skill of feeling what another feels. If you can empathize with your team members, they will feel connected and there will be trust and vulnerability.

Listening and making sure your team members feel heard is equally important.

Understanding is also a core component—if as a leader you are holding a team member responsible for something that was out of their control, there will be a breach of trust and respect.

A common misconception about Compassionate Leadership is that it makes it more likely that the leader will be seen as weak and be taken advantage of by the employees. While Compassionate Leadership is built on authentic caring, healthy leadership always includes strong boundaries. It will always be necessary to have clear goals and standards for the team. Compassion doesn’t mean that you don’t hold your team to these high standards—it means that you treat them as human beings with dignity and respect as they do their best at their job. When there are performance issues, a Compassionate Leader cares about the individual as they address the issue. There will be times when tough decisions need to be made, but Compassionate Leadership ensures that it all happens with as much consideration and grace as possible.

Adopting a Compassionate Leadership style and fostering a culture of Compassion within your organization can make the difference between a so-so year with lots of turnover and stress … and a year that exceeds all expectations, both financially and in the day-to-day enjoyment of the work.