Compassion begins with awareness. Yet, awareness alone is not enough. To truly embody compassion, we must take the next step – connection, the bridge that transforms our awareness into meaningful action. It requires the belief that a person – whether a colleague, friend, or stranger – is worthy of our attention and care, what Monica Worline and Jane Dutton refer to as “interpreting generously.”
With computers in our pockets, colleagues at our doors, and shifting news cycles, information comes at us quickly. How much we can absorb, respond to, and act upon depends on our own awareness. Attention and awareness make up the first step to compassion – you can’t skip this step. You must first notice the challenges and suffering of another person or within a system before you can respond to it.
In the midst of growing polarization and division in the world, research shows that there is a “growing national interest for empathy and understanding.” The just-launched Muhammad Ali Compassion Index offers data on the state of compassion and recommendations to inform the changes needed for a more compassionate world. Read more about the recommendations on the blog.
This time of year invites reflection, planning, and setting intentions for the year to come. Compassionate leaders know there is space between where we are and what we wish to have happen. In those gaps exist objectives, goals, and strategies. In the same space is also room for compassion for ourselves and others. What could next year look like through the lens of curiosity for your leadership?
It has been a banner year for the growth of compassionate leadership, with a bounty of valuable books that amplify the urgent call to deepen our understanding of how we act as humans in a global community, how we act with compassion to connect us, and how we can cooperatively face today’s deep existential challenges. We hope they capture the attention of your mind and the intention of your heart.
While the discourse has advanced beyond the call for more than ping pong tables, we know creating spaces where people feel positive about their organizations and their role in it is complex work. Culture is subtle because it is expressed through the way we experience an organization and how the setting shapes our thoughts and actions.
After a divisive election, as compassionate citizens and leaders we can choose not to see the options, the action of others, or our own actions through a black and white dualistic lens. We each have the power to choose reconnection and reconciliation and broaden our lens of perception. Try practicing these four approaches to constructing a more cooperative, compassionate world after the election…
In this Compassionate Leadership Case Study, we explore how Pinuccia Contino, the Deputy Director for Consumers – European Commission, used a department reorganization as an opportunity to link the power of well-being and compassion to the pillars of her department’s work, aligning with both the values and purpose of the organization.
Compassion has the power to help employees flourish and create stronger, more innovative organizations. The evidence is clear. Creating compassionate organizational environments leads to significant benefits for the organization: lower turnover, higher employee engagement and satisfaction, greater creativity and innovation, and higher-quality connections with deeper trust. But, there is one big catch…
We often respond to challenge with the belief that vulnerability is weakness. Older command and control models of success often include stoic leaders in stuffy suits looking down on others with orders or mandates. These times call for us to shed such old beliefs and embrace our humanity. Compassionate leadership offers us the path to becoming a strong, effective leader through connection and care.
