In one of Biden’s first speeches since his cancer diagnosis, he said:
What does the president understand about the culture and values of a company? Well, that turns out so much, and according to former President Biden, it should include empathizing and understanding employees at the individual level.
On July 2nd, Biden took to the stage before a packed room as Shrm’s closed keynote speaker, marking one of his first speeches since Diagnosis of prostate cancer In May.
“The strength of a team comes down to the individual people on that team, whether they feel worthy or supported,” Biden said his father taught him that his job is more than a salary. His father believed that work would help people develop dignity, respect, and place for others in their communities.
Biden has been praised historically Empathetic Leader I take pride in leaning towards empathy in order to build relationships. He has developed unlikely connections with political enemies like Senator John McCain and Jesse Helms.
Earlier in his political career, Biden decided that employees should be able to show up as themselves for work. “Too many times, we try to categorize people: their work and their families. We say it’s business, it’s not personal,” he said. “Real leadership is about being personal. I know all the major heads of state that I have sat down and discussed face to face for the past 40 years, and it’s about being connected.
He believes leaders should personally connect with staff, get to know everything from birthdays to family and ask about them. It means, “What do they deal with at home every day, and even at the most intense workplaces, we can make time for such human connections.”
Biden, who lost his first wife and daughter in a car accident shortly before his first Senate term, said his work should not stop him from enjoying precious moments with his family. “We say to ourselves, we have to attend that meeting, we have to accomplish that report. We go through it. Then we say to ourselves, my wife will understand. My children will spend more time with my children.
When Biden became vice president in 2009, he explained the importance of his family and sent a new note to staff. “I said… I don’t want you to overlook important family duties to work. These include birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, religious ceremonies, graduations, times, illnesses and losses,” and ignoring his orders “deadly disappoints him.”
On several occasions through his prepared remarks and interviews with SHRM CEO Johnny C. Taylor Jr., Biden spoke about his career and leading the difficult times, but reminded the audience that employees need to know that HR cares about them.
“They need to know what you care about… not just what they can do for you, but about them, their families, their situation,” he said. “That’s how we build a team that willingly provide them all for you.”
This report was It was originally published by HR Brew.