Embracing the Struggles

I had a conversation recently with someone who was very passionate about something they were working on.? I listened as they processed through the difficulties they were having getting others aligned. The passion for the topic was compelling - and it was also clear that it had turned into outright frustration and struggle. I found myself both a bit concerned about their emotional state and also reflective of how important passion - and even frustration - are in the process of growth and development.

There is a pendulum around the topic of support and psychological safety in the work environment. If you've read anything I've written you probably know I'm a believer in the need to create healthy and highly supportive environments. And the pendulum is appropriately swinging in that direction. But I also think it's really important to recognize that that does not mean eliminating the struggle or eliminating the challenge. In fact I think it's quite the opposite.

Growth implies struggle and challenge. Look at anything you or anyone you know has done in life and you will see it not only required hard work, it was also challenging and stressful at times. The idea that we need to eliminate stress, challenge and anxiety from our lives I think is not only flawed but does people a disservice. Too often we do it with our own children trying to protect them from every adverse situation. We shield them from an unfair coach or intervene with a difficult teacher, while it is these relatively low risk adverse situations that shape them and give them the foundation for tougher things. The same holds true in the work world.

Growth and success require a willingness to overcome adversity and the fuel to do that is rooted in individual passion; the passion is sometimes tied to an area of interest or a goal, or sometimes to the notion of success itself. Passion is important to growth. It can be energizing, catalyzing and magnetic. It brings energy up and out into groups. It motivates people towards action. And it can be exhausting. In fact, the root of the word passion comes from the Latin "to suffer or endure".

Similarly, compassion, something we should all strive to bring to the workplace as leaders, means "to suffer with".? Compassionate leadership isn't about the elimination of struggle, it's the support for it; it's the struggling alongside, up close, in the situation with the individual. Well meaning leaders who want to create a safe and supportive environment for all - and I would consider myself one of them - need to be conscious of the reality that that does not equate to creating a stress-free environment. Rather than eliminate the challenges of the work world, truly healthy, high-performing organizations embrace challenge, foster passion, and give shape to it. Compassionate leadership is about supporting the struggles and the challenges, helping people use their talents and potential to drive through them (not around the), helping people see what they're capable of, building resilience, unlocking more potential and bringing the best out in those who are passionate and who are willing to do the work. Support and love in the work world take many forms. For all leaders it's a challenge and an art to figure out how to best show up for any individual at any time. But let's remember that compassion is the willingness to struggle with, to sit alongside, to fight the fight together; it is not simply the desire to eliminate it. This process of working through struggles is literally the process of realizing potential and it is literally the process of growth.

"Points of Impact" is a publication expressing thoughts on how we might approach our work differently to have a better impact on others and the world. For more related perspectives, check out the book Impact with Love: Building Business for a Better World - now available on Audible!