COMPASSIONATE LEADERSHIP: HOW TO BE KIND WITHOUT BEING TOO NICE
net worth.” That’s where compassionate leadership comes in. Compassionate leadership is not focused on the “short-term” or instant gratification. Compassionate leadership goes much deeper; its roots are anchored in a willingness and desire to be kind to others, to see them as part of yourself, and to relate to what they are experiencing with a willingness to help.
By Laura Ellen Christian Vice President, Client Engagement AGE-u-cate Training Institute
Some say compassion and leadership are juxtaposed. You can’t be compassionate and be an effective leader. Compassion is too soft and too coddling for organizations that have their “eye on the prize”.
Usually, when people respond in this way to the notion of compassionate leadership the “prize” is money. What if you reframed your organization’s “prize”? Of course, every business needs to be financially stable, and monetary growth is one measurement of success. But focusing solely on monetary gain can be a dangerous path, one that often causes destruction to an organization’s most precious asset – people. As Bill George, a Harvard Business School professor and former chairman and CEO of Medtronic once said, “You know you’re in trouble when you start the judge your self-worth by your
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Notice the use of the word kind. This word might push you back to feelings of leadership and compassion being juxtaposed, but kindness is very different from niceness. Niceness is making someone feel better. Kindness is acting on a desire to help someone. When you extend kindness to others, you are being truthful with an intent to help. And you don’t have to be nice to be kind.
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