Key Points
Leadership search mandates have undergone a drastic change, with boards now seeking top managers who are not only performance-driven but are empathetic as well...
In a challenging business environment where layoffs have become widespread in some industry segments causing high levels of uncertainty and stress among employees, potentially hurting their performance, companies want leaders who could handle the situations sensitively, said leadership search firms and management experts...
Attributes like "being assertive, aggressive or a hard task masters" have made way for a more humane approach to employees, such as "empathy, collaborative spirit and an attitude that enables others to succeed", they said.. "Empathy is a much sought-after soft skill today and the old adage of 'crack the whip' is becoming increasingly irrelevant," said Jyoti Bowen Nath, managing partner at executive search firm Claricent Partners.. "Companies are doing discreet reference checks for senior leaders who are being hired and very often the focus is to know how they score on soft skills," she added...
Promoters and board members are of the view that focus on performance does not mean being too hard on employees.. "Performance and empathy go together very nicely," said Naushad Forbes, co-chairman at Forbes Marshall..
Shailesh Haribhakti, chairman of audit and accounting firm Haribhakti & Co, who is also an independent director at several Indian companies, said: "Servant leaders are required as credit needs to be parsed in a manner that motivates youngsters.".
