Does a compassionate work culture attract more women?

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Jeff Weiner

Meeting Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn in Silicon Valley

….I think it does, so I asked Jeff!

Jeff Weiner  gave wonderful insights into his daily practice of compassionate management as the CEO of LinkedIn. (See previous post and full report to download). He described an extraordinary culture in this organisation that is the business engine of connectivity for 277 million professionals who are members across the world. It is something which he is passionate about and he has personally championed it throughout his own life, family and entire business team.

The whole organisation is very much values led with compassion at the heart. I think that is rather unusual so I was keen to find out whether having this value which is so very much regarded as being a feminine trait had in any way impacted on the company’s ability to attract more female employees … and … whether the culture that has been created as a result has supported a greater number of women executives staying and rising through the ranks to the highest levels. (Read more about his philosophy … I found it fascinating so I transcribed it on a separate post with specific details of how to make compassionate management work. It’s dynamite).

Jeff was in conversation with Soren Gordhamer during Wisdom 2.0 week. 45 minutes in to the one hour presentation he opened up the floor for Q&A. I was lucky enough to ask a question in the crowded auditorium.

Gina: Thank you Jeff, I enjoyed your presentation. You  have obviously created a special culture by having compassion at the core with you leading this ……. I work in the area of women’s leadership and research why women leave organisations. Speaking about the UK we have a low number of women on boards, a low number of women who are leaders in government and organisations. They say they leave because of the challenge of the culture, the lack of caring and compassion and the macho nature of the business. They choose to leave and set up their own enterprise and so therefore remove themselves from the pipeline for being in a leadership position at the top. My question to you is: have you seen, with the way your culture has evolved with compassion at the core, that it has in any way invited more women to apply and …. whether this culture has enabled more women to rise to the top of your organisation?

JW: I never would have thought about that strong correlation between the two so explicitly. We are very fortunate to have in our executive ranks a very high percentage of women, they are there not because we said let’s manage compassionately and attract more women to this organisation. They are there because we hire the best and they are the best at what they do. The fact that managing compassionately would attract women who might otherwise feel uncomfortable ….  if that enables us to hire such talent then fantastic! It’s not something that we thought about explicitly from the gender perspective … we are thinking about our values full stop. And we want people irrespective of gender who feel that they can relate to our values and be a part of our company.

Gina: So many women find that when there is a mis-alignment of values they have to leave. Where caring and compassion, which has been proven to make companies more successful, is missing  … women choose to leave because of a strong values conflict.  I do feel a culture of compassion attracts more women, and it’s great that you say you have more women rising to the top.

JW: Thank you saying that. I had not consciously related in that way but going forward I think I will be a lot more aware of that dynamic.

The role of compassion in LinkedIn’s success

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Compassionate Management, Jeff Weiner, Values

Soren Gordhamer of Wisdom 2.0 in conversation with LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner during Wisdom Week in San Francisco

My first day in San Francisco and off I went to Menlo Park, the heart of Silicon Valley, for my first event during Wisdom Week. It was a fantastic opportunity to sit up close and listen to an industry leader who heads the world’s largest online network of business professionals. I was also fortunate to be one of the few who asked Jeff a question (that’s a separate post).

As an advocate for Dr Riane Eisler’s work into the vital contribution of Caring Economics to business success, and one of her trained Conversation Leaders, this event on Compassionate Management was top of my agenda. What was Jeff going to say about compassion in business? In fact, you rarely see those two words in the same sentence so what was a high-profile business leader doing nailing his colours to the mast of caring? As it turned out, he had a lot of good stuff to say. I transcribed the conversation and if you care to download it, you will find it a rich resource for bringing new skills to your own management and leadership practice. Jeff’s commitment to creating a culture that fully embraces the value of compassion is an excellent example of a new kind of leadership, and one which is at the forefront of one of the world’s leading new business success stories.

“Nine years ago I would have rolled my eyes at culture and values. …Today I would argue that culture and values are our most competitive advantage … My advice would be to get serious about your culture and values.” Jeff Weiner, CEO LinkedIn

In the conversation Jeff shares:

• the life-changing book that he was given which fundamentally changed how he saw the world, and 13 years later it remains on his night stand
• in detail how he manages communication and relationships with his staff avoiding upsets but still tackling conflict head on to deeply understand why people do what they do
• how in an open, honest and constructive environment, a compassionate approach to everything they do builds a culture that ensures everyone remains committed and really understands where they fit in and the contribution they make
• the 4 most important ways to successfully tackle a conversation with your boss from hell
• 3 practical applications for business of compassionate management and how this successfully drives the world’s largest professional online business community
• his personal commitment to well-being and how he maintains his energy
• secrets and revealing insights to his time and life management
• his vision for a better world …. it’s a dynamite list of tips!!

Download the pdf Jeff Weiner Talks Compassion here: