If you could create your own fantasy board of directors, who would be on it? CO— connects you with thought leaders from across the business spectrum and asks them to help solve your biggest business challenges. In this edition, we asked an expert about how you can balance empathy and accountability in the workplace.
In this edition of "Ask the Board," we asked Jaime Blaustein, CEO and Co-Founder of the Sylvia Brafman Mental Health Center, a premier mental health and dual diagnosis treatment facility located in South Florida, to share his advice on how to be empathetic while still holding your employees accountable.
The ideal leadership strategy pairs empathy and accountability, no matter your industry or size. While it's difficult to balance both, it's not impossible.
Here's how to build trust with empathy and ensure individual responsibility with accountability.
Evaluate whether people are doing the best they can with the tools they have
This strategy helps diagnose the "why" behind something — overall work performance, a particular project — falling short of expectations. If the why is grounded in the fact that they don't have the skillset, then it's the failure of the manager who allocated that task to begin with. If the why is grounded in traits such as effort, energy, or work ethic, then it calls for the employee to be held accountable and for legitimate constructive feedback to be given to that individual.
Lead with empathy and operate under the assumption that people are making a good-faith effort to add value.
Jaime Blaustein, CEO and Co-Founder of the Sylvia Brafman Mental Health Center
Give people the benefit of the doubt initially
It's important to hire employees that you truly believe are good people with good intentions. Lead with empathy and operate under the assumption that people are making a good-faith effort to add value.
Account for the accumulated body of work
Do this when analyzing each particular instance of under/over performance. Don't evaluate everything in a vacuum — account for the other data points that factor into interpreting the why behind someone's performance.
Be fair yet honest
Avoid the tendency to people-please and not give honest feedback to an employee because you fear they will quit. You are doing both the company and the employee a disservice by not addressing the issues. Apply to others the standards of work/life balance and expectations in general that you found reasonable when you were reporting to someone.
Recognize that employees won't and shouldn't care as much as you
This is the trade-off being a manager or owning a company — you will always bring work home with you. You benefit from the rewards of ownership, but you should expect stress and other headaches. Employees won't and shouldn't take on that downside in a meaningful way absent the upside.
CO— aims to bring you inspiration from leading respected experts. However, before making any business decision, you should consult a professional who can advise you based on your individual situation.
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