Our drive to achieve and accumulate comes from a place of wanting to create safety. It also comes with a terrible cost. The more we succeed at setting ourselves apart, the lonelier it becomes. The good news is that we are also wired to care for each other. Recognizing our interconnectedness supports us in leading in order to thrive individually, in communities, and in organizations.
When people hear “compassion,” they often think of the nurturing and kind qualities that are an important part of compassion. Compassion, however, is much more than that. Each of the elements of compassion – awareness, connection, empathy, and action – offer paradoxical tensions that fierce compassionate leaders bring into harmony to raise teams and organizations to new levels of performance.
The Women’s Global Compassion Gathering on March 28 welcomed participants from forty-one different countries around the world. Presentations from Kenya Casey, of The Carter Center, Liz Grant of the University of Edinburgh, and Monica Worline of Stanford University were interspersed with time for community reflection, sharing intentions and poetry, and restoration.
Elections are by their nature divisive. Each vote is an act of distinguishing, categorizing, and separating. As compassionate citizens and leaders, we don’t have to see the entire world through this dualistic lens. We each have the power to choose reconnection and reconciliation. Use these four approaches to constructing a more cooperative, compassionate world after the election.
