Strengthen your care-oriented leadership
“ Being a crisis manager can be learned.”
Gilles Dufour
In times of crisis, the essential challenge of Care-based management—a compassionate managerial approach inspired by the principles of the ethics of care—is to “take care of others.” The goal is to align relational quality within the team, a humble and empathetic attitude, while embodying an “inspiring” leadership for one’s teams. Today, many companies reinforce this by issuing codes of good conduct for managers on respect, kindness, stress management, diversity, or even Accenture’s “Truly Human” initiative.
Taking care, or “care”: what does it mean during a pandemic and socioeconomic crisis?
The notion of Care has four levels: individual, relational, collective, and institutional. Being a Care-oriented manager in a crisis means showing concern for others while remaining active and taking action to face the crisis.
Four action axes:
Attention: Applying oneself to act, watch over, ensure, and meet someone’s needs.
Responsibility (Charge): The duty to take care of something, to watch over it.
Concern (Préoccupation): The feeling of worry or care.
Solicitude: Demonstrating sustained attention and thoughtfulness.
For this to work, Care management must not only become a value but be embodied by organizational leaders who must unlearn old habits to develop new behaviors.
Taking care of yourself
Taking care of yourself means listening to your needs, respecting and honoring them. It involves actively monitoring physical, mental, and emotional health, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, resting without guilt when needed, and preventing stress from becoming chronic. My advice: consult a therapist, osteopath, sophrologist, or coach at least three times a year, and schedule regular check-ups with your physician or physiotherapist, especially if you work in a support role within the company, such as an internal coach or HR professional. Also, diversify your “resource persons” and consult them regularly.
Self-care means learning to know yourself, identifying your behavioral patterns, accepting and respecting your nature to preserve your energy and balance. Understand what drains you and what energizes you, and engage in restorative activities regularly, such as yoga, breathing exercises, meditation, sensory isolation, dancing, or getting a massage.
Listening to your body and taking care of yourself is the foundation for truly taking care of others.
To Care = To Be + To Do
Adopting a caring posture takes several forms. First, it involves politeness and respect: saying “hello” and “thank you” daily, checking in on your employees’ families and health, and respecting meeting times compatible with family life and commuting.
It also means generalizing remote work for those whose physical presence is not essential, or creating on-site childcare or concierge services for employees.
It involves showing empathy, kindness, and humanity in interactions while strengthening humility (acknowledging when you don’t know) and emphasizing the collective WE over the individual I. Small acts of attention make a huge difference within a team—they strengthen group cohesion and foster engagement.
Symmetry of intention also applies to Care: if managers must take care of their teams, teams should also take care of their manager. A team has the manager it deserves, just as the manager has the team they deserve… at least most of the time!
Care also extends to clients and partners as much as to employees. Many struggled during lockdown and reopening. It is important to recalibrate relationships with partners, identifying those who need your support, those with whom collaboration should be strengthened, and those with whom separation is necessary.
Reinforcing communication and vision
Now more than ever, a Care-oriented leader must strengthen communication and embody it through vision, values, and corporate mission to enhance team engagement, much like Elon Musk.
Choosing a cause you care about
The ongoing health crisis highlights the importance of this concept. The pandemic acts as a catalyst, increasing expectations for engagement. We seek visibility, proximity, and, above all, sincerity, particularly in health and wellness—now prioritized over environmental or purchasing-power concerns, according to Pascale Azria, President of the French Public Relations Council.
Moving beyond “greenwashing” and charitable donations (often preliminary to real business model changes), improving processes, and integrating upcycling can give employees a sense of purpose, as Emery Jacquillat has done with Camif.
The key is to remain consistent between the cause you support and your actions.
Continuous feedback as a care tool
Feedback aligns perfectly with the logic of Care, allowing self-observation, observing others, and accepting feedback on one’s own behavior, even when difficult to hear. Practicing continuous feedback also means taking a step back, acknowledging vulnerability, recognizing the need for others’ perspectives, and realigning one’s actions accordingly.
Questions for reflection:
How will you use this back-to-work period to implement best practices?
Which three actions will you commit to starting now?
I recommend coaches, therapists, HR, and other helping professionals pay particular attention to themselves, to avoid burnout, as this crisis may be long and complex.
#leadership #care #management #coaching #HR