The Art of Compassionate Business with Dr. Bruno Cignacco

Welcome to the Behavioral Profit Show, the show

where business meets behavior. I'm your host,

Debbie Longo, executive behavioral coach. And

each week we dive into the mindset shifts, leadership

strategies, and cultural behaviors that drive

higher performance and greater profits. Whether

you're leading a team or building a business,

this is your space to learn how human behavior

fuels business success. Today we have a very

special guest, Dr. Bruno Longo. He is an international

business consultant, TEDx speaker, and researcher

for over 30 years. he has advised, trained hundreds

of companies on international trade activities

and international marketing. He also trains companies

on topics related to compassionate business.

and human -oriented leadership. He is a university

professor and a senior fellow of the Higher Education

Academy in the UK. He is also the author of business

and personal development books published in various

languages. The second edition of his new book,

The Art of Compassionate Business is available.

Thank you. Welcome, Dr. Welcome to the show.

The first question is, why is compassion relevant

to business? First of all, thank you for your

invite. I want to clarify the concept of compassion.

business. Compassion is about understanding if

people think, how other people feel, what emotions

they have, but also try to help them whenever

possible. So this means that you connect to others

on a mental level, on an emotional level, but

also you try to support them, you try to assist

them whenever possible. Why is so important in

business? Because in business, according to my

result, everything is interdependent. You cannot

succeed without others. So when you connect to

others, on a mental and emotional level and you

support them, you're more likely to bring about

a positive cycle of reciprocity. These people

that you support, these people that you providing

assistance are more prone to support you, to

collaborate with your company. When you support

employees in the workplace, when you care for

them, you don't only provide them with instructions

and orders or try to tell them what to do, but

you really care for them, you authentically support

them on a regular basis. These employees will

tend to go the extra mile. They will work extra

time in an unconditional way. They will bring

about innovative ways because they feel that

their efforts count. value. The same happens

with customers when you support customers and

you develop what I call compassionate customer

services. This means that you look for the customer

needs instead of focusing exclusively on your

profit. These customers feel that there is a

personalized connection with them. They are not

treated in an impersonal way or in a depersonalizing

way. And these customers are more prone to be

committed and loyal to your company and recommend

your products to other customers. So in practice,

when you help others, they are prone to help

you. Everything is interconnected, you cannot

force them to be on your side. Wouldn't it be

nice to have all these stakeholders, customers,

employees, suppliers, community members, business

partners on your side? When you build robust

relationships, long -term relationships with

these stakeholders, they are more prone to come

spontaneously to your side and help you achieve

this key performance indicator, profitability,

productivity, market share, higher sales, and

this is quite relevant because many companies

focus exclusively on these key performance indicators,

and they do not devote any time to build relationships

with the stakeholders. In my view, and according

to my research, the most relevant factor in business

is not technology, is not artificial intelligence,

is not information, is not money, but is the

human being. Because it's a resource that can

create other resources, business models, innovative

products, non -traditional services. So it's

a meta resource, a resource above all other resources.

And when we nurture the relationship with this

fundamental asset, this human capital, they're

more prone companies, they're more prone to get

successful economically speaking, because they

will help all the stakeholder cooperating on

their side. That's something that I teach also

as a behavioral coach, because I want to put

the customer or the client first and me second

or me third even. Because if I think only about

myself. And how am I going to make money? Then

that's not going to work out because it's just

not the proper way of doing business. of supplies,

and this company will try to get all the gains

of all these stakeholders. What do you expect

that this stakeholder will cooperate with this

company? It is acting in a very selfish way,

not at all. Instead, when the company considers

not solely their own needs, but the needs of

different stakeholders in a condition of equality,

this company is more prone to nerdy relationships,

because relationships in business and in life

can only succeed, can only prosper, when the

needs of each party Fully made. So company that's

self -centered tend to be short -lived. Why?

Because all these stakeholders that feel dismissed

tend to withdraw, tend not to cooperate, tend

to look for other organizations to contribute,

not this one that is selfish. The next question

is, what are the qualitative and quantitative

aspects of business and how to force to them?

According to my research, there are two main

aspects of a factory business. We call them qualitative

and quantitative. Let's talk about the quantitative

aspects. Prosperity. Quantity related to figures,

to quantity. And these are a factor that can

be measured. It can be counted. It can be quantified

in a very precise way. For example, the key performance

indicator. Profit, market share, sales, cost

reduction. So all this can be easily quantified.

You can have a figure. For example, sales went

up 10%. Sales went down 10%. Very easily to measure.

These are important for economic survival, but

economic success. When a company prosper economically,

we focus on focus on this quantitative aspect.

However, there is a second set of aspects that

we call qualitative aspects. Qualitative aspects,

as compared with the first group, cannot be measured.

Cannot be measured in a precise way. Cannot be

more on count. And what are these second aspects?

Gratitude, compassion, camaraderie, commitment,

care, kindness, generosity. And why they are

so important? Probably as important or more important

than the first group, because these factors are

also called relational aspects. This means that

help you build long - lasting relationship with

different stakeholders. Within the company, management

and employees, and outside the company, customers,

suppliers, business partners, community members,

and so on. Why they are so important? Because

fostering these qualitative aspects, this relationship

with stakeholders becomes stronger. These stakeholders

are connected to the company in a meaningful

way while helping the company achieve the quantitative

aspect of business. So this means that, according

to my view and my research, what I mentioned

in my latest book, companies should keep priority

to qualitative aspects. Even if you measure precisely,

you should foster generosity, foster gratitude

in the workplace, foster kindness in the relationship

with customers and other stakeholders, because

we are bringing about a positive cycle of reciprocity.

You treat people in a kind way, they are more

prone to respond alike. You treat people in a

supportive way, in a generous way, in a grateful

way, and they are more prone to reciprocate.

By doing so, they are contributing to your company's

objective in a direct or indirect way. Instead,

if you focus only on what can be measure this

missing, this qualitative aspect. There is a

famous thought leader that observed, not everything

that counts can be counted and not everything

that can be counted counts. This is important.

At the end, what cannot be measured precisely,

you cannot see in a balance sheet. This generosity,

gratitude, support, compassion is of high importance

because will help you build the most important

asset in relationship, the human being. At the

end, regardless of the roles, we're always dealing

with human beings. We want to have all is on

our side and the only way is by helping them.

When you help them, you're helping yourself because

you're building a relationship of mutual support

and reciprocity. Another thing that I teach also,

we're very similar. The qualitative obviously

makes more sense because I need the qualitative

in order to have the quantitative. And then you

mentioned about the stakeholders. So that's my

ultimate goal is to make the stakeholders happy

by increasing sales and profits. That starts

with the business owner. It starts with the executive

and then they influence the employees. It trickles

all the way down the poll. All of those people

affect the business and that's how the stakeholders

get paid. Do I want to look at it this way or

do I just want to be negative? That's up to the

business owner. How to foster trust. and positive

behavior in the workplace. They want to share

resources, technology. Instead, when there is

an environment where there is no trust in the

workplace, people feel a bit defensive, protective,

and they are not prone to cooperate, and they're

more prone to compete with colleagues and other

roles. Some aspects that we mentioned before,

building relationships with others were Both

parties have their what I observe that in many

cases there is a lot of what I call in business

and many other call this way negative side of

politics. For example, one upmanship, gossiping,

slandering in the workplace, people competing

with one another in a very unethical way. All

this negative side of politics affecting the

environment bring about a psychologically unsafe

workplace where people do not trust. They do

not want to share resources. They don't want

to expose their views. of being punished or ridiculed,

and this is not a good workplace. According to

research, there is lower productivity, lower

morale, lower commitment, lower employee satisfaction,

and this affect also customer satisfaction. When

employees dissatisfy what you expect to serve

customers in an effective way, they don't have

their own needs met and they might not be willing

to meet the customer needs. When there is a trust

-based environment, this employee will tend to

serve customers better, connect to colleagues

and share respect. How you build trust? Connecting

to colleagues on a much more emotional level.

Let's imagine you see a colleague at work that

is a bit down, is looking a bit sad, a bit despondent.

If you are not acting in a compassionate way,

you will ignore this colleague. You pretend that

this colleague is not in a bad mood. You pretend

that this colleague is not feeling difficult.

But if you are compassionate, you will act in

an opposite way. You will try to ask them. I

think that I observe you and I think that you

feel a bit sad. According to research, it is

This brings about the seeds of trust. You are

not there for business. You are connecting to

them in a much more humane way. You are not depersonalizing

the treatment with them. You are connecting on

a much more humane level. This means that you

are showing some concern for their feelings,

some concern for the problem that they could

be facing, and you are also willing to support

them when needed. This brings about an environment

of trust. But other ways of generating more trust

is bringing about an environment where fairness

is very important. value where people know that

if follow these procedures, these type of activities

and this is the outcome that is expected. The

result will be assigned to a person that didn't

participate in that project. So the concept of

fairness is very well connected to trust because

environment where fairness is a very important

principle where people feel in condition of equality

and equity and people are also encouraged to

participate in big decisions. People feel more

trusting to others. As important as their risk,

I want to highlight this last point that because

of the participation in many business environments,

people are not allowed to give their views on

important decisions. Only very few people make

the decision and not the other one need to be

obeying blindly without giving their input, their

views. By research only there are companies that

are more participative. Some people making the

decision but these people are welcoming the views

of others because they understand that they have

all the knowledge, they might have some blind

spot, they are welcome. humbly the views of others

and making this decision much more participative

whenever possible. These type of workplaces allow

people to trust each other much more easily.

They bring about an environmental cooperation

of support and kindness. That is important for

me also because when you can build trust in a

company, then that changes the whole dynamic

of that entire company from beginning to end.

And I've made point on a lot of these podcasts

that the very big companies, Microsoft, IBM,

Apple, they all have coaches. They have people

that are giving them positive feedback every

day. They're teaching them all different types

of positive things. Trust. That's why these businesses

are successful. It's not luck. They have coaches

and they change their mindset. That's every employee

in the company. So the next question. Question

is... What is compassionate leadership and how

is it different from traditional leadership styles?

This is a very important topic that I added in

the second edition of my new book, and it's a

topic that is so relevant that many companies

should pay close attention to this topic. When

we talk about leadership, there are many theories

of leadership and many leadership styles. However,

I talk about specific leadership style that is

human -oriented leadership style or compassionate

leadership style. fostering a very positive environment

in the workplace as a leader and bringing about

the best from each person working in this work

environment. The compassionate leader is a humble

leader. This is not a tall leader, a leader that

does have any blind spot and is on a pedestal.

This leader will be talking to customers on a

regular basis. In some cases will have conversations

with employees of any level. This means that

could be the bottom of the pyramid or at the

top and also will get some insights from any

stakeholder. This means that it's a leader with

a growth mindset and a beginner's mindset. This

means that they're continually open to learn

on a regular basis. They can learn from informal

sources like chats with different employees or

other stakeholders, or they can learn on a regular

basis with courses, training. These leaders are

continually opening their awareness. These leaders

also understand that the business in my domain

is so complex that they kind of have a full knowledge

of the whole set of variables that are affecting

the business activity. For the reason they encourage

what many experts call cross -functional meetings.

They are meetings where the representative of

each department, each area, for example, human

resources department, marketing department, customer

service department, they are meeting, they are

giving their views from the perspective of their

department on a topic that might not be related

to their department. They have to launch a new

product. They want to hear the view from the

finance perspective, from the human resources

perspective, from the administrative perspective,

from the production perspective. So this leads

right to get a much more integrative view of

the business activities and especially significant

business decisions. To get a much more holistic

view so that implies that they understand that

the complexity cannot be dealt with by one person.

They need always complementation of views and

perspective from different areas within the company

foster a positive environment in the workplace.

I saw many leaders that are a bit shouty, angry,

dictatorial or authoritarian. This is not a human

oriented leader. leader treat people with kindness

and if they have to provide with feedback, they

provide feedback in a very constructive way,

highlighting the aspects that need to be improved

and providing with assistance during this improvement

process. A leader that is not compassionate will

highlight in a very punishing way and will try

to penalize this employee for not having made

the expectation without offering this employee

anything. The human oriented leader, the compassionate

leader will try to foster the improvement and

development of every employee. try to enhance

their natural skill and also help them develop

new skills. This means they understand that the

most important resource is the human being. And

these leaders also have a very strong vision

that is inspiring for the follower to go after

this vision. But this vision is not only economically

oriented. It's not only about profit or market

share, it includes social aspects. How can we

improve society as a whole throughout our business

activity? How can we improve the planet? How

can we have a positive impact on the environment?

not only this generation, but for future generations.

This means that this leader's sustainable perspective,

that is long -term. They want to leave a legacy

and they want to make it positive. They believe

that companies are catalysts. They're a very

important instrument to bring about positive

change. Many non -traditional leaders try to

focus only on the basic indicators. Let's try

to meet the shareholder's expectations. And on

the contrary, the human -oriented leaders, customer

employees, community members, business partners,

suppliers are very important. So this means that

that this human -oriented leader would try to

avoid making any decision that creates some gains

at the expense of losses for some stakeholders.

So compassion caring. I care about my employees,

my peers, the executives that I work with, the

board members, before myself, the money that

I'm going to make, before greed. I try not to

control my employees. I give them love, compassion,

care to show that they are a very important part

of the company. Next question is... How can companies

satisfy customers' needs more efficiently? There

are two main approaches in relation to customer.

What I call selling attitude, you focus on selling

products, selling services, and then you have

the service attitude. People that are acting

in a compassionate way in business, they choose

this type of attitude. Attitude of service. What

is a different attitude with customer is a fundamental

difference. When you have an attitude of selling,

you try to sell as much as possible. manipulate

customers into buying your products that are

completely meaningless to them. You draw contracts

with fine print where customers cannot escape

later on. I feel when you treat customers in

a manipulative way and you force them to buy

products that do not meet their needs, this customer

is prone to feel resentful and feel angry or

negative emotions that will push customers most

of the cases to leave. very negative reviews

online and push other customers away. So this

is not the right way. When you focus on service,

this means that you want the best. for this customer,

not for your company. You put customer first

because you know that by putting customer first,

this customer will help you generate profits.

It's not the other way around. You don't put

the profits first. You put customer first and

you try not only to meet their needs. Any company

can meet their needs. You go beyond. You try

to exceed customer needs. This means that you

try to surprise them in a positive way. If I

am buying a computer, this computer shop is acting

in a compassionate way with customer. This computer

shop will try to provide me with a free course,

maybe with artificial intelligence software with

free delivery. Why are they acting in a generous

way? Because they are thinking about the customer.

They are thinking how they can use this product

in a very meaningful way, meeting their needs

and exceeding their needs. When you are jealous

with customer, because this is the attitude of

service, adding as much value as possible, you

create a positive imbalance. This means that

you have been generous with this customer, customer

feel indebted with your company and they're more

prone to reciprocate. How? Coming back to your

company. leaving positive reviews without you

asking them, recommending your company to other

customers. Instead, when you are stingy, when

you are manipulative, you think about only sales,

try to sell the most expensive product because

it's the one that you'll get higher commission,

but you don't care about customer at all. You

treat them only as a figure in your database,

as a means to obtain profit. This customer will

feel depersonalized. They will feel that you're

not treating in a humane way and this customer

will run away from your company, might get your

product. once and it will leave negative reviews.

It will spread the negative word all over the

internet. And this is not the right way. So the

question that listeners should ask is how can

I add higher value to customer on a regular basis?

How can I under promise over the liver? And this

is the right approach. You don't exaggerate your

claims. You try to be humble with your offerings

and then you surprise them. You over deliver.

You are surprising them in a positive way and

create this positive imbalance. You will have

a loyal set of customers. This is what we call

in marketing the concept of delight, exceering

customer satisfaction. Even if you are in a restaurant

and you are the employee for that restaurant,

when you bring a quality that the customer asked

you for, you bring some biscuits free so that

the customer can enjoy these biscuits with the

coffee. This is pretty minor because this biscuit

might not cost a lot of money, might be pennies

or cents for this company, making a lot of difference

for this customer because you are personalizing

the bond, you are personalizing the interaction,

you are making them feel an impact. I used to

work in retail. I used to manage stores and we

always had customer service, the first thing.

And we did a lot of things, create loyalty to

do things that made the customer stand out and

feel good about themselves, about the products

that they were buying. And that created more

sales because they're going to go home and call

all their friends and say, I went to the store.

It was just such a good experience. They're going

to tell 10 friends. Each time that happens, that's

going to multiply. That will increase sales and

profits. Getting rid of selfishness, self -centeredness,

greed, control is really key. That's a big thing

that's destroying businesses. So the last topic

is, how can generosity affect behavior in business?

There is one chapter in my book that I mentioned,

the topic of the needle. I want to obtain more

profit, more market share, reducing cost. I want

to get more customers. If you focus only on obtaining

without giving, it's like breathing in without

breathing out. You cannot have respiration without

breathing out and in. It's like a cycle. So there

should be an equilibrium between obtaining, getting

more profit, more market share, more customers.

So why giving is so important? Many companies

might say, oh, sorry, I have a very good excuse.

I cannot give anything. We don't have resources.

And let's talk about this. You can always give.

because there are two types of giving in business,

giving tangible things and giving intangible

things. This employee is working hard. It's very

committed to the company. This employee doesn't

see his or her family very frequently because

they have a very tight deadline. This employee

knows that this project is meaningful for the

company and they know that they're very skillful

and competent and they can contribute with some

value to this project. And it's very committed.

They do this in a very spontaneous way. The management

of this employee is generous, will provide in

two ways. The intangible way that this employee

is working hard and will give the bonus, I will

pay you this bonus for this hard work. This is

one of the ways given. The other way of giving

is intangible thing, giving this employee recognition,

writing down the thank you note or including

this employee phrase and name in the company

newsletter. This was the employee that contributed

to the deadline. You can say, does it make any

difference? Of course, because this employee

doesn't have only economic needs. have a need

only for a good salary or a bonus. They have

emotional need. They want to feel that they count.

They want to feel that they contributed in a

meaningful way. So this emotional need needs

to be addressed. The company can go even further.

The employee contributed in a very meaningful

way. They can organize an event where the employees

become nice publicly and proud of their contribution.

They can comment about their family about this

or you know what? They organized an event where

they celebrated the achievement of this object.

This makes a lot of difference when you are giving

and you are appreciative. you are giving thanks

to this employee degenerate the positive cycle

you are enforcing positive behavior this employee

contributing a meaningful in any other situation

you want to give to other stakeholders you are

talking to a colleague what can you give I don't

have any money I don't have any resources to

give to this colleague when this colleague is

worried you can listen to them you can give technical

information supposing that this employee is looking

for some information about a macroeconomic factor

you can say I have a report that I can give you

you can keep coaching you can provide them with

specific training so that they can be more skillful

when you see that they're not doing well. Certain

person you can say, you have a lot of potential.

We have very high expectation about you. And

I'm sure that your people will meet it. Maybe

we can support you with some additional training

or coaching in the field that they're appreciated.

Their relationship is brighten these gifts. And

so this means that you don't have only to give

tangible thing, but could be also intangible.

According to research, generosity brings about

a positive cycle of generosity. When people are

generous you are setting high standards. This

means that it's a workplace where people are

not self -centered but giving all supplies others

orientation. You are oriented toward others and

you try to bring about this positive psych reciprocity.

But when you give, you should give in an unconditional

way. Many companies give with the expectation

of receiving some return. This is speculation.

You shouldn't be giving in a conditional way.

You're giving with the heart. When you do, people

can feel you are honestly supporting them. Everything

is interconnected in business. If you I am not

putting myself first and I am paying. attention

to what other people's needs are before mine.

And if I'm generous, then I'm humble. I'm considerate

of others. And I might want to maybe treat my

employees to a lunch. I have... a guy that's

doing my patio now, and he gives his employees

water. His employees don't pay for the water.

This is putting the employees first. I know a

lot of companies that pay for their employees'

lunches, and that's showing the employee that

the company cares about them. So you have a less

high turnover rate, but not only that, it's a

good way to increase morale and... Create a positive

workplace. I just want to keep being more positive

and constantly getting rid of that negativity.

And all of these questions we just spoke about

is exactly what the result would be. If I'm a

business owner and I'm listening to this podcast

and I do all these things, it probably would

be close to perfect. Do you have anything that

you would like to say in closing? on relationships.

The importance of value is fundamental because

you are having value to them. And by doing so,

you are reinforcing this positive reciprocity.

You are strengthening this network interdependence.

That means that you do not rely on yourself,

but you can rely on others and others are more

likely to support you. How can I bring about

more gratitude in this workplace? The importance

of gratitude is fundamental. Many people in the

workplace take others for granted. doing their

job I don't have to be grateful to them this

is their function you're not taking it to the

human side because in many cases people go the

extra mile they spend extra time on the project

they give their heart they are fully committed

and by you dismissing them by not saying thank

you on a regular basis for their contribution

for the good ideas for their insight for the

hard work these people and these corners to keep

on acting in a positive way you are punishing

they're positively shaped. So you're discouraging

them from keep on acting in a positive way. Instead,

when you're grateful, you're highlighting the

positive side. You brighten the relationship

with other people on a regular basis. And relationship

with plants need to be watered on a regular basis.

They're not a one -off transaction. They're long

-term goals that need to be strengthened and

brightened on a regular basis. These are all

principles that appear in my new book. They are

compassionate. So how can they get in touch with

you? They can check my website. www .brunosignalco

.com and they can contact me or link in I regularly

post articles and comments on compassionate organization

and real life changes on companies that are both

human oriented and profitable. Most of these

examples come from my book, The Art of Compassionate.

And how can they get your book? Their Business

Second Edition can be found online or offline

worldwide. It's sold worldwide by one of the

big four publishers. Thank you for being on the

show.