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A fearful team gathered in a conference room at “ITSecure” to deal with a recent security breach. The atmosphere was full of anxiety. Evan, the team’s manager, began the meeting on a sharp note. He questioned each band member individually, asking, “How did this happen? What do you suggest to fix this?” For each team response, he received a retort and reprimand. As the team debated recovery plans, accusations and defenses intensified. Evan’s stress was visible to all.
Purdue researchers Geoffrey VanderPal and Randy Brazie examined how managers’ autonomic responses to emphasize influence how they reply to workplace stress and how these responses help or hinder organizational performance. Evan’s approach demonstrated emotionally responsive leadershipcharacterised by a knee-jerk response to problems, a focus on control, and an emphasis on short-term solutions. In Evan’s case, his reactivity increased stress on his team and made it difficult to quickly resolve the issue.
Fortunately, as time passed, Evan began to note his influence on the team. He suddenly remembered a recent session with his executive coach and hesitated. He took a deep breath and modified his approach. He again asked for comments from team members. But this time he didn’t interrupt or answer. He took notes and then approved and developed the team’s ideas. Slowly the energy in the room modified. Common ideas began to flow and a comprehensive plan emerged.
Evan’s change in behavior relieved the tension. Team members’ self-protection gave technique to collaboration as he focused on being present, listening deeply, and providing thoughtful responses. I call Evan’s recent approach responsive leadershiptopic by Dr. Daniele Smith-Morton I’m writing as a technique to improve project performance and strengthen team morale and cohesion.
Developing responsive leadership
Responsive leadership involves a balanced consideration of knowledge, logical reasoning, and emotions, resulting in responses that support a broader perspective. Responsive leadership is fostered when leaders develop three core characteristics:
1. Empathetic engagement: Sensitive Leaders consider their followers to be experts in their field. Therefore, these leaders actively listen and try to know their employees’ perspectives. This requires empathy and listening to what team members say, without getting personally involved. Empathetic engagement involves understanding and sharing the feelings of others, which helps leaders connect on a deeper level with their followers. Leaders can address core issues and effectively support their team by genuinely caring about the prospects and well-being of their people.
2. Lack of reactivity: Instead of reacting impulsively to problems, responsive leaders take a step back, gather information by observing their thoughts and feelings without immediately reacting to them, and then respond thoughtfully and deliberately.
This approach reduces misunderstandings, promotes emotional balance in the face of stress, and is considered crucial in each cases mindfulness AND emotional intelligence. This, in turn, translates into higher organizational performance. In her work, Smith-Morton teaches leaders to simply accept what is happening slightly than allowing anxiety, anger and frustration about the situation to take over. Sometimes it takes time to breathe, collect yourself, and let your reactions rise and fall before moving on.
3. Authentic Presence: A pacesetter’s authentic presence is about being true to yourself while leading others. Leadership researchers Bruce Avolio and William Gardner explained that this includes self-awareness, relationship transparency and balanced decision-making. Practicing authentic leadership requires openness, ethical behavior, and consistent self-reflection. Therefore, open leaders are present in the here and now with leaders, ensuring full engagement and authenticity in their interactions with followers, culminating in an environment where followers feel valued and respected.
A helpful metaphor for describing how reactive and responsive leaders operate is that of Chris Argyris and Peter Senge Inference model ladderwhich shows our steps from statement to motion. Reactive leaders typically climb to the top of the ladder based on assumptions and incomplete or biased information. In turn, responsive leaders take the time to slowly rise to the next level, collect more data, query their assumptions, and seek to know different perspectives before taking motion. This thoughtful approach reduces misunderstandings and fosters a more thoughtful and inclusive decision-making process.
Why responsive leadership?
Leaders who display responsiveness slightly than reactivity are inclined to generate several necessary organizational outcomes, reminiscent of:
1. Greater confidence: Leaders’ authentic presence, lively listening and real concern for the well-being of subordinates naturally build strong, trusting interpersonal relationships and a trusting environment. From my very own experience as a leader and consultant in organizations across a variety of sectors and industries, engaging and staying in the moment with one other person creates a mutual sense of interpersonal safety, connection and respect, which results in deeper understanding, collaboration and support.
2. Improved team morale and performance: A sensitive leader who demonstrates authenticity, empathy, and non-reaction creates a positive atmosphere that helps team members feel valued and heard. In turn, worker morale, job satisfaction, motivation, commitment and productivity increase. They are more likely to interact positively and contribute significantly to achieving organizational goals.
3. Better decision making: Leaders make more informed and inclusive decisions by considering diverse perspectives and gathering comprehensive information. This thoughtful approach minimizes errors and promotes progressive solutions, increasing the organization’s ability to adapt and develop. Morton-Smith explained that people try to actually understand what’s happening when they feel aroused. They can get to the root cause of what’s really happening.
The power of a responsive leader lies in his or her ability to maneuver beyond reactivity and foster empathy, trust, understanding and higher performance in the organization. The techniques discussed in this text provide a roadmap for leaders who need to cultivate a culture of acceptance, collaboration, and collective problem solving. When leaders adopt these practices, they will increase their effectiveness and lead their organizations toward greater success and achievement.