Grace is a word we rarely hear in the workplace. Rather, we tend to focus on attributes like focus, determination, and hard work when it comes to excelling in our careers. But grace is a cornerstone of leadership skills and the key to fostering a supportive work atmosphere.
Grace is the mindset and intentional action to extend kindness and understanding toward others, even during times of stress, conflict, and failure. When we or our teams feel stressed and exhausted by deadlines, meetings, and projects, we can choose to resent the people around us who make it seem so easy or give ourselves and each other a little grace.
Here are three effective ways you can extend grace and hone your leadership skills in the workplace.
Practice Self-Compassion
First and foremost, take the perspective of befriending yourself. As I often say in working with leaders, allow yourself to be human. We all make mistakes, but we learn more through our mistakes than our successes.
Sindhu Kutty, Co-Founder of Kuroshio Consulting, says, “To practice self-compassion, it is important to look at setbacks from the perspective of a friend to be kinder and more empathetic to oneself.”
Some people use negative internal feedback to drive them forward. But think about what you’d say to a friend or child who’d just experienced failure. You wouldn’t point out what they did wrong; you’d point out what they did right and maybe even work with them to create a plan to do better next time.
On your journey toward building effective, authentic leadership skills, try focusing on cutting yourself some slack like you would a friend.
Develop Gratitude Practices
Gratitude makes for more effective leadership skills and thus a more positive, collaborative work environment. What are you thankful for? Practicing gratitude to yourself and to your team can increase employee retention and loyalty and lead to all-around success for the company.
Yolanda Lau, Chief Experience Officer at Liquid, states, “When you pause to practice gratitude, you give your mind, emotions, and even your body a moment to recalibrate and become more resilient[, as well as] contribute to a more positive work environment, allowing your team to work more effectively.”
Some gratitude practices you can implement include keeping a gratitude journal or working a few short minutes into your daily schedule to reflect on what you’re most grateful for. Encouraging your employees to do the same can help cultivate a more meaningful work environment.
Coach Gracefully
Grace means you give people the benefit of the doubt and are slow to make snap judgments about their behavior. One of the most important parts of developing strong leadership skills is correcting employees in a caring way.
In his book, “Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power & Greatness,” Robert K. Greenleaf says, “Servant leadership always empathizes, always accepts the person but sometimes refuses to accept some of the person’s effort or performance as good enough.”
In other words, a servant leader — a term coined by Greenleaf — effectively corrects and encourages an employee toward better work via truth and grace. Both are dependent on the other for effective management.
Truth without grace is harsh and can often do more damage than good. Grace without truth enables bad behavior and won’t demand excellence. Both are necessary to continue to develop a trust-filled working relationship with employees.
Balance Grace & Leadership Skills
Graceful leaders must balance their grace and leadership skills. Empathetic listening is the key to this balance.
Grace is about treating others with compassion and understanding, even during times of stress or conflict. Whether it’s offering support during difficult times, forgiving past mistakes, or simply acknowledging someone’s efforts, grace allows us to maintain positive and productive relationships with our colleagues and clients.
How do you balance grace and hone your leadership skills to build a positive and collaborative work team?