LivaNova

Building Leadership through Authentic Connection

I have been fortunate in my life to lead in many different contexts. Some opportunities came to me professionally, and some came to me through volunteer roles. I have served on non-profit boards and on for-profit boards. I have been a people leader and a leader of leaders in corporate, I have led sideways, I have led upwards, and I have led collegiate and club rugby athletes, both male and female. One consistent feature or learning for me has been that you cannot lead people if you cannot connect deeply with them. You cannot connect deeply unless you can be authentically yourself.

It is scary for many of us, myself included, to open up to people, especially at work …it is “extra” as a leader in a competitive industry like pharma or MedTech! But the faster you can do it, the faster you will build a connection. For me, this has meant establishing a cadence for connection, a framework. Maybe it will be scheduled 1:1s, which say to people, “your time is valuable to me.” Maybe it will be an onboarding habit, like one of my favorite CEOs…who, up until our acquisition, met with every single new hire for a 1:1 during onboarding. This again says, “I want to see who you are. You matter to me.” These relatively small touch points can yield immense reflection of value back at colleagues and employees. However, these touchpoints must be focused and without distraction to yield a return on investment.

Generally speaking, the reciprocity principle will apply in these interactions. If you open up to someone, they generally will open up back. If they open up to you, you need to reciprocate. THIS establishes a connection. Learn what is important to the members of your team, your organization, your colleagues, and then honor that. Let yourself care. And reflect that care on those around you. Let them see what is important to you, at work and at home.

Balancing Compassion with Accountability

Compassion sometimes is perceived to be out of balance with accountability. However, in my experience, we are happiest when we lead with love. Assume everyone shows up hoping and intending to do their best. You will, of course, need to be open and honest with anyone in this situation about the impact of missing a deadline or underperforming on you, the team and the business. This is a useful exercise, as it will also help you keep perspective over real vs imagined deadlines. Leading through challenges and allowing learning through failure deeply empowers others to strive to be their best.

Compassion sometimes is perceived to be out of balance with accountability. However, in my experience, we are happiest when we lead with love.

The ugly part will come…when someone’s best is still not what is needed for the role. When you lead with love, the painful truth is that this individual, who has talents and skills, deserves to be somewhere where they can thrive and those skills are valued. Let them go as kindly as you can and recognize out loud and publicly what they did well, but be honest with them in private where it was a mismatch. If you have invested the time and effort that they deserved from you as their leader, it will probably be a painful acknowledgment for both parties, but there will also be a recognition of truth.

Developing Future Leaders

You ask what advice I might offer aspiring leaders, and I am cautious to offer any, as we all have to try, fail, rinse, repeat, and hope someone leading us gives us the space to do so. So, I suppose that is my advice.

1. If you have the privilege to lead, know that those you lead today may lead you tomorrow, and if you are a good leader, they WILL lead others.

2. Prepare them by sharing leadership with them on the team, through projects, through operations, or through people (or whatever order seems right!).

3. An attitude of confident humility will lend itself to strength through empathy.

4. Seek out that connection cadence, whether it is 1:1 connections, onboarding or skip levels. Find it and cherish it.

Note: You can use AI to help you set up for these meetings or even perhaps generate some questions that generate a deep connection, but nothing replaces the art of true listening.

Leading with Love

As a final thought, we connect through words, body language, and acts or deeds. Thoughtless words are the equivalent of slumping in your chair or blowing off a task someone else really needed. The connection you build can be fragile, or it can be strong. Regardless of where you think it is on that spectrum, the connection you have worked hard to build can fall apart in an instant when your words are not thoughtful, intentional, and honest. Honoring that and doing the work it requires is Leading with Love.