Although society leads us to believe that sensitivity is a weakness, sensitive people have scientifically proven qualities that make them capable leaders.
Leaders are typically known for their strength and fortitude to lead teams through change and challenges. However, he knew that many great leaders are actually very sensitive? If you are observant, empathetic, intuitive, and creative by nature, you may be a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)—or at least have some HSP traits. When these HSP traits are embraced and protected, they can amplify your leadership abilities.
In fact, sensitive people do scientifically proven properties which make them capable leaders. HSP is not someone who is sensitive in the traditional way we think of sensitivity. Saying something constructive or hurtful to an HSP won’t necessarily just make them break down and get upset (as society tends to make us believe).
Rather, HSPs are actually sensitive to energy and stimuli – sensitive to people, their environment, emotions, and intuition (to name a few). According to estimates, nearly 30 percent of the population is extremely sensitive in this way. Also, many people who are not highly sensitive still have some HSP characteristics.
Understanding that you are an HSP can help you manage your sensitivity
When I started leading teams at work, I felt other people’s emotions and energy and how they felt. This helped me to quickly see how the team dynamics could flow smoothly to achieve the goals effectively.
Although my team told me I was a great leader, I often failed to live up to my own high expectations. too often, I suffered from burnout after taking on too much work.
I have always been extremely observant, noticing changes in the office environment or soft, inappropriate sounds. I didn’t know about my HSP trait until recently when I read an article about it and then took a quiz to measure my sensitivity on a spectrum. There are several quizzes to measure where you are on the HSP spectrum. The quiz revealed that I am HSP.an empathone of the most extreme types of HSP.
So why is it important to know if you are an HSP or have some HSP traits?
After learning that I was an HSP, I was able to understand my sensitivity, to accommodate the propertyand defines the conditions for my success at work.
Here’s a guide to embracing your HSP traits and protecting your energy as a highly sensitive leader.
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3 Benefits of being an HSP leader
1. You are deeply mission-driven and see the deeper purpose behind tasks.
Because HSPs have a vibrant inner voice and inner world, it’s natural to connect with our “why”— our work goal. Our sensitivity makes us extremely passionate and committed to our mission. We do quality work with attention to detail. When we find the right career paththe work we do feels like it is part of our personal calling.
While others may procrastinate, our strong connection to our work makes it natural to accomplish goals and tasks because they really mean something to us. As a leader, we can authentically assemble the team around the mission and motivate people to achieve collective goals as a team.
2. You can see people’s strengths and how systems work.
Highly sensitive people tune in to other people’s energy and are extremely observant. We find out how other people like to work and how to use their natural talents. While someone else may perceive someone’s reluctance to complete a task as normal, we look deeper: We notice that this person may need more training, more guidance, or would be more motivated by another task.
As leaders, this allows HSPs to identify team members’ strengths and interests. We see how individual strengths best fit together as a whole system to achieve goals effectively and happily.
There are also many active mirror neurons in the HSP brainwhich helps you understand other people’s emotions. In this way, we become masters of clear communication and conflict resolution. Teams work in harmony when led by emotionally intelligent HSPs.
3. You are creative and solution-oriented.
Another valuable trait of HSPs is to always question the status quo. We strive to make things a best not just the way things have always been done. We see more opportunities and are open to approaching challenges.
If anyone else has an idea, we listen and take time to think about how their new idea could be incorporated to improve the current approach. (No place for egos here!)
Creativity is also an important HSP trait when leading a team because it allows you to develop and grow with the business or organization. Being creative deep thinkers, we enjoy making new connections – and often come up with solutions that others might exclude or ignore.
Although there are many benefits to being an HSP leader, there are also challenges.
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3 challenges of being an HSP leader
1. Has a hard time setting boundaries and tends to take on too much.
Being an HSP leader has its challenges. When I worked in the corporate world, I always felt that setting boundaries was difficult. HSPs usually have trouble with “no” and they often revert to people-pleasing tendencies. This can result in taking on too much work or act as an emotional vent for working people.
In order to save energy and time, highly sensitive people must learn to set boundaries with their schedules and to communicate kindly and honestly. It’s not that we don’t like people. However, time spent alone is important (and necessary) to usthus, making time during the day for individual walks or personal breaks helps conserve our energy.
2. You feel drained by your typical work environment.
Whether you work at home or in an office, a typical work environment has a lot going on. There is technology. There is noise. Although busyness is good, the intense stimulation from the work environment can be energetically taxing for the HSP, who absorbs all stimuli very deeply. It’s here environmental psychology comes into play, adapting the environment(s) to the needs of the HSP.
For example, finding a quiet place for individual work and making the workspace calming and energizing is essential. Single-tasking can also benefit HSPs versus trying to focus on 101 things at once.
3. You are frustrated by your lack of emotional intelligence and mindfulness.
Highly sensitive souls are very attuned to the emotions of others and even take on the emotional weight of others’ feelings. We also retreat and avoid hostility interpersonal conflict as much as possible.
When people in the workplace don’t care about how they communicate, acknowledge others, or create hostility, we feel it deeply. It can quickly become a focal point and negatively affect our productivity and focus.
When we work with unethical people – or those who do not align with our values – we feel this effect ourselves. Although we may appear to be impulsive, we actually perceive (and feel) things sooner than others, so we can act intuitively a little faster. (As an HSP, our intuition top notch!)
Self-care practices (walks, exercise, meditation, and the like) and finding the right team—with high ethical standards and considerate behavior—are essential to the success of an HSP leader.
HSP leaders are essential to a kinder, more sensitive world
Serving as a leader in a world not necessarily designed for sensitive people can be challenging. However, the most important thing is to focus on the benefits – you have many positive, powerful HSP traits that carry you and make you unique and effective as a leader. Don’t let challenges stop you from following your calling.
Ultimately, if you are someone who is an HSP or has HSP traits, you can add a lot of value as an HSP leader. Ask yourself: How can I utilize my HSP qualities at work? How can I create the conditions for success as an HSP to proactively face the challenges that arise? What could I do better?
If you are not an HSP but are building a team, consider how an HSP can add value to your team or organization. How do you create the conditions for HSP leaders to thrive, not just survive? Ask yourself this many times – every day – and soon you will see and see the benefits.
In my book Awake Leadershiplearn a system and practices for HSP leadership success.
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