Compassion means feeling with another’s stress/struggle (or empathizing), and then actively responding in ways that alleviate distress. Leadership means taking responsibility for seeing and developing the potential in people – investing in the promise of their greater happiness and success.
Putting those together, compassionate leadership means:
- Seeing the potential in stressed/struggling people (which is everyone, to some degree!), and
- Choosing to actively invest in their healing, growth, and happiness.
There are four essential elements to compassionate leadership. My program provides crucial knowledge and powerful tools for developing each one.
Element #1: Self-Compassion
Self-compassion has been described by leading researcher Kristin Neff as “loving, connected presence” to one’s own self. Leaders are more effective when they learn to quiet the voice of their inner critic and instead become their own ally. This makes them more resilient, and better able to support others. Research also shows that self-compassion is linked to high levels of self-initiative, self-confidence, and overall achievement.
Element #2: Awareness
One of the greatest gifts humans can give one another is attention. Most people who are suffering feel a deep need to be simply witnessed in the midst of their distress. To know that someone noticed, someone realized. And so, as a leader, training yourself to slow down and become more aware of others is key.
Element #3: Empathy
Empathy means sharing to some degree in what someone else is going through. It means relating to them, feeling with them. The human brain is built to empathize: at a neurological level, other peoples’ experiences can become our own when we feel our way into their situation and tune into their emotions. Others can sense empathy at that level. They know when their leaders “get it,” when they can relate. And it makes them feel seen, safe, connected, and supported.
Element #4: Action
Compassion is empathy plus action. In other words, we connect with others while doing things–sometimes hard things–to bring resolution, relief, or remediation to a painful problem. As Hougard and Carter put it: “Compassion, at its root, is a desire to see others happy and a readiness to take action to see it happen.”
