In celebration of this week’s International Day of Peace, we would like to share the article we wrote for this summer’s Peace Chronicle, the journal of the Peace and Justice Studies Association. Peace and justice require us to address the systemic issues underlying and causing suffering. Systems change is where courage and compassion come together to make a difference in our challenged world.
As the pace of positive change around the world accelerates, so does the level of challenge humanity is facing. It is tempting to want to put one’s head in the sand and hope that this will all go away. Or maybe the temptation is to become filled with rage and lash out with anger and hostility. Neither extreme takes us anywhere particularly helpful. What can we skillfully choose to make a constructive difference?
One of the most common questions we are asked at the Center for Compassionate Leadership is, “What do I do if my boss is not compassionate?” Navigating a compassionate path with an uncompassionate boss or other person is never easy. Let’s explore how to courageously take on this challenge, and in so doing, perhaps discover a new level of mastery in compassionate leadership.
The journey of life and leadership is a never-ending series of cycles, requiring different optimal action depending on the circumstances. There are two constants central to the work of every compassionate leader: self-compassion and the recognition of our shared common humanity. These two provide a powerful foundation for compassionate leaders to act, and guide their choice of the approach to use.
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.
Every organization, every team, everyone faces failure at different times. How we respond can make all the difference in how quickly we bounce back and learn to innovate in the future. In many organizations or teams, the typical response to negative events is shame and blame. To create resilient, learning cultures, leaders need instead to respond with compassionate actions.
Learning the principles of compassion and leadership are important steps on the journey to developing a meaningful compassionate leadership practice. Understanding and doing, however, are two different things. Those who want to show up as truly compassionate leaders need to integrate these principles and practices into their whole life so that is who they become.
After a grueling 2020, and an even more challenging week one of 2021, how do we persevere and embrace compassionate leadership? Take these four steps as the antidote to a disorienting world: Slow down to understand what lies beneath all the activity, and to anchor yourself, stay focused on the compassionate leadership skills that are always productive, and seek to offer compassion to everyone.
