Jumbo shrimp… Working vacation… Deafening silence… Exact estimate… Freezer burn…
Does it sound like “compassionate leadership” should also be on this list of oxymorons? If you think so, you aren’t alone. Many people think that leadership and compassion don’t belong together. In reality, they strengthen and complement each other. Leaders who lead with compassion get better results, and the compassion we so profoundly need in this world will be developed most effectively if our leaders are acting compassionately and spreading compassion.
Compassion Enhances Leadership
So that we all start from the same definitional point, we are speaking of compassion in a classic way, which is the desire to ease the suffering of others.
The first thing that is important to understand about compassion is that there is nothing easy or soft about it. As Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn has said, “True, unconditional compassion requires almost superhuman strength.” The easy response to the suffering of others is to find somewhere to place the blame, which is a response that rarely leads to a decrease in suffering. Other easy responses include ignoring the problem or putting on a “quick fix band-aid.” A compassionate leader recognizes the feelings of others at a level from which they can try to respond in deeper, more supportive ways.
An example of this that most of us will relate to is a person at work who creates challenges for everyone. It might be a strong-willed bully, or a toxic employee that spreads negative emotions everywhere they go. There is rarely anything easy about confronting such a situation. But easing the suffering of those in that setting, i.e. compassionate action, requires naming and facing the issue that many people would prefer to avoid. Another example is dealing with a team member who seems to be in the wrong job, which is certainly one of the hardest situations to deal with at work. The most compassionate thing to do for such a team member is to counsel them and help them find more fitting work. There’s nothing easy or soft about doing that. At the Center for Compassionate Leadership, we provide leaders with the tools and the skills needed to lead compassionately in all situations, including these challenging examples.
The greatest payoff of compassionate leadership comes in human terms, and research also bears out the financial benefits of a supportive workplace. Companies with purpose and corporate social responsibility outperform S&P 500 peers by 8x.* This trend is likely to become even more pronounced in the future, as 88% of millennials are looking for employers with corporate social responsibility values.** It isn’t surprising that a workplace that behaves responsibly and recognizes employees’ values will get the most from their employees and teams.
Leadership Is Needed to Advance Compassion in the World
What sort of world will we build for future generations? Will it be a world focused on competition and a “kill or be killed” mentality, or will we build a world of cooperation and collaborative problem solving? We are at a critical time in the history of humanity, where changes to our climate could bring about significant destruction over the next 50-100 years. This is no longer about having to choose between my good vs. your good. There is a real chance that it will either be all of us thriving or all of us succumbing.
How do we shift the world’s perspective from competition to cooperation? Compassion towards our fellow humans is the most direct path. We need compassionate leaders to develop our sense of shared mission in the world. Every compassionate action has a direct impact in strengthening our world. Leaders who act compassionately will create both a direct benefit and an additional ripple effect through the people they lead. The best thing about this magnified impact is that everyone can find places where they lead. Everyone can be a compassionate leader.
Through our lens, compassionate leadership is not an oxymoron at all. What do you think?
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*Firms of Endearment: How World-Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose, by Raj Sisodia
**Awakening Compassion at Work, By Jane Dutton and Monica Worline