Research shows in recent years that 60% of Americans are deemed to be lonely. We all feel it to some degree, and our mental and emotional health is compromised as a result. In fact, lacking social connection, both at work and in our personal lives, can have as negative an impact on a person’s mortality as smoking, hypertension, or physical inactivity.
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.
This chaotic moment in history presents a golden opportunity to bring compassionate leadership into your organization. For courageous leaders ready to develop their own compassionate leadership capacities, this is the second of three posts offering a roadmap to developing these skills. This week we talk about the four dimensions to develop greater organizational compassionate cultures.
What is compassionate leadership? It certainly includes both compassion and leadership, with compassion playing a primary role. It is responsive to suffering when it arises, and creates a culture that promotes employee flourishing to prevent the creation of suffering where possible. And, most of all, it is just what the world needs today. Read our definition here.
