Compassionate Leadership Certification Training
July 2024 Curriculum Overview

Our curriculum has been developed to create lasting results through growth in three core dimensions: inner strength, connection to others, and creating organizational change. Since 2019, more than 500 leaders from over 50 countries have joined the Compassionate Leadership Certification Training to draw on evidence-based practices to transform the ways leaders and teams thrive.

In 2023, the Center for Compassionate Leadership completed an 18 month longitudinal study of the course curriculum by world-class educational evaluators at Claremont Graduate University. They found that program participants showed statistically significant increases in all three dimensions: self-compassion, compassion for others, and compassion at work.

In addition, 70% of alumni interviewed said they had seen changes in their organization as a result of this compassionate leadership training and 90% of alumni said that they would recommend the course to their friends and colleagues. 

The curriculum includes eight modules:

MODULE ONE

Igniting Our Community for Impact: Stepping into the Journey Together

Come together as a community with your colleagues and learn about compassionate leadership fundamentals from everyday practices to systems-changing force.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

You will:

  1. Understand the definition of COMPASSION and COMPASSIONATE LEADERSHIP

  2. Understand the four elements of compassion

  3. Understand the four elements of social architecture that will be used throughout the course to support the growth of compassion competence in organizations

  4. Feel more deeply connected to this community, colleagues and faculty individually + community as a whole. Compassion is relational

MODULE TWO

The Case for Compassionate Leadership: Science, Organizational Evidence,
and Model for Integration

Gain an understanding of the science of compassion, the evidence supporting the power of compassion in organizations, and the fears of compassion and compassionate leadership.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

  1. Window of Tolerance and scientific basis of our ability to grow our compassionate capacity – We CAN lead compassionately!

  2. Evidence-based benefits of compassion in organizations – It is generative to lead compassionately; good for the leader, the team, and the organization

  3. Understand the most common fears of compassion

  4. Begin an exploration of where you would like to bring compassion in your sphere of influence

MODULE THREE

The Role of the Leader: Changing Systems From the Inside Out

Learn how to make your role into that of a leader who leads courageously and creates more compassionate organizations.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

  1. Understand courageous compassion and how compassionate leadership requires both kindness and strength

  2. Understand “roles” as they are fulfilled in organizations, both role-taking and role-making

  3. Understand the connection among nurturing and courageous compassion, leading with compassion and leading for compassion, and, role making and role taking

MODULE FOUR

Anchoring Our Leadership with Inner Strength - Inner Work of Compassionate Leadership: Awareness, Self-Compassion, and Vulnerability

Deepen your ability to lead from a grounded, anchored place supported by awareness, self-compassion, and vulnerability.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

  1. Understand what self-compassion is (and isn’t), and its benefits

  2. Learn the foundational importance of the skill of awareness in leading oneself and others

  3. Learn the power of vulnerability on the part of leaders in creating increased safety and connection

MODULE FIVE

Building a Culture of Compassion: Psychological Safety and Growth Mindset

Learn how to create a culture of compassion through evidence-based organizational leadership principles and skills.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

  1. Understand why psychological safety is so valuable, and ways that you can create that form of safety

  2. Know the difference between a fixed and growth mindset, how those differences manifest, and how to build a learning culture

  3. Understand culture as a pattern of shared group assumptions and discover interventions to promote compassionate culture

MODULE SIX

Building a Culture of Compassion: Belonging

Explore new perspectives and tools to foster a culture of belonging in organizations for everyone.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

  1. Understand how our instincts can hold us back from connecting to those different from us

  2. Understand two different frameworks for belonging: warmth / competence, and uniqueness / belonging

  3. Understand the use of networks as organizational structures to create belonging at the organizational level

MODULE SEVEN

Communication as a Transformational Tool: Compassionate Communication and Feedback

Develop the skills to have difficult conversations and share meaningful feedback with colleagues.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

  1. Understand the different elements that make up communications

  2. Understand Scharmer’s four levels of listening

  3. Learn how to prepare for and hold a challenging conversation at work

  4. Understand how routines as an element of social architecture can support compassion competence within an organization

MODULE EIGHT

Integrating Compassion Into Work and the World

Learn how to apply courageous compassion and take action to change systems from the inside out.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

  1. Understand the difference between nurturing and courageous compassion

  2. Understand the value of appreciative inquiry and its use to spark change

  3. Begin the process of bringing about systems change from right where you are