There are always going to be people who really push our buttons. Our natural, conditioned reaction when they shove in the wrong direction is to push back harder the other way. Rarely is this the most helpful response. Compassion as the response to difficult behaviors is the counterintuitive solution that leads to safety, connection, and belonging for all.
November 13, 2021 is World Kindness Day. Every kind act we take has a powerful effect, rippling out and generating impacts beyond the benefit to the recipient of kindness. Kindness has the power to support all the elements of compassionate culture. When compassionate leaders practice kindness, it will be felt through the entire organization or team.
The disruptions from COVID-19 have been enormous, and the loss of life has been tragic. Yet, as a collective, we have still found ways to adapt with remarkable resilience. Many colleagues tell us that some of their life and work changes have been unexpectedly positive. If we stop and reframe our experience, we may be able to find learning and growth amid the suffering.
The relationship between compassion and perceived time pressure has been known for a long time. From the well-known study, “From Jerusalem to Jericho” nearly fifty years ago, to our research with participants in our training cohorts, the feeling that there is not enough time impairs one’s ability to act compassionately. Ironically, the solution doesn’t come from working faster, but in slowing down.
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.
Psychological safety has been shown to be the single most valuable characteristic contributing to team performance. Compassionate leaders have an important role to play for the benefit of their teams and their organizations through the creation of psychologically safe environments. Here are three compassionate leadership principles to lay the foundation of safety in your organization.
