SLID’s Women Directors’ discussion on “Empathetic Leadership in a Time of Crisis”
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From left - Ms. Lakmini Wijesundera-Co Founder, IronOne Technologies/BoardPac; Ms. Kasthuri Chellaraja Wilson-Group CEO, Hemas Holdings PLC; Dilshan Rodrigo-Director/COO, Hatton National Bank PLC; Ms. Hajar Alafifi-Chairperson, Unilever Sri Lanka; Ms. Chamila Bandara-Director/CEO, Mountain Hawk Express (Pvt) Ltd and Ms. Shiromal Cooray-Managing Director, Jetwing Travels (Pvt) Ltd
The Women Directors’ Forum (WDF) of The Sri Lanka Institute of Directors recently organised a panel discussion titled “Empathetic Leadership in a Time of Crisis” at the Cinnamon Grand Colombo to discuss and share insights with its members on the virtues of and the need for empathy in leading organisations in times of crises such as the current pandemic.
The keynote was delivered by Ms. Hajar Alafifi-Chairperson, Unilever Sri Lanka. Moderated by Dilshan Rodrigo-Director/COO, Hatton National Bank PLC, the panel consisted of Ms. Shiromal Cooray-Managing Director, Jetwing Travels (Pvt) Ltd; Ms. Kasthuri Chellaraja Wilson-Group CEO, Hemas Holdings PLC; Ms. Lakmini Wijesundera-Co Founder, IronOne Technologies/BoardPac and Ms. Chamila Bandara-Director/CEO, Mountain Hawk Express (Pvt) Ltd as well as Ms. Alafifi, WDF said in a media release.
“Empathy goes beyond compassion. Leaders were super-heroes, commanding and controlling with top-down leadership styles until maybe 10 years ago. With the advent of COVID-19, leaders realised that they now had to pull a different muscle to lead the team and drive business performance. They needed to make their people feel safe and cared for. This required them to exude a completely different leadership style. They had to become human leaders. Empathetic leadership is about doing hard things in a human way. It is not about becoming fluffy or being kind for the sake of being kind. It is about driving performance whilst being human,” said Ms. Hajar Alafifi in her keynote address.
Mr. Rodrigo citing research conducted said that while 80 per cent of leaders consider themselves empathetic leaders, the staff ratings of these leaders indicate that only 20 per cent of them are actually seen to be empathetic leaders.
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