Leading for a More Compassionate World

Compassion in leadership is exactly what is needed in these challenging times. Trailblazing leaders already bringing this approach into their organizations see the positive impact and change, and at the same time recognize that the path is not easy.

If we are to lead compassionately, we must first be willing to non-judgmentally acknowledge things as they are, not as we wish they would be. Then, we will be in position to choose the action available to us. Trusting that our compassionate actions will ripple out into our community and beyond to create the difference we seek helps keep us inspired and in turn, inspires the whole of humanity.

Turning Toward the Suffering

The first step toward compassionate action is noticing. This requires us to turn toward the pain and suffering that is so present in the world today. We also feel it deeply - connecting with the pain of others and resonating with them. Our empathetic radar takes it all in. Before we are consciously aware of it, we can find ourselves overwhelmed. In despair. We find it hard to believe that our compassionate action could matter enough to soften the suffering or remove the causes of it.

How do we turn to the suffering in ways that don’t overwhelm us and pull us under? Compassion requires great strength. At the heart of this strength lies equanimity, the ability to maintain calm and composure in the face of challenging circumstances. Our natural reaction is to judge the harm and the “evil” behind it. Pausing our judgment, even briefly, allows us to turn our focus next to what can be done. Paradoxically, accepting what is, even when it is harmful, allows us to discern our options for constructive action more clearly.

We Have a Choice

Yes. We have a choice. We can control how we respond to the challenges in the world. Choose compassion. Choose love. Whatever compassionate action we take, no matter how small, will move outward and have an impact on those that our action touches and mysteriously beyond into the larger unified field. We can bring peace, compassion, and healing into the world, and the world will amplify and reflect that back to us. Or we can stay stuck on the suffering and that’s what will amplify and reflect back out.

Choosing to act requires additional courage to acknowledge that we may never know the impact of our action. We may never see the direct cause-effect outcome that we have been conditioned to believe is needed to motivate us. This is part of the difficulty of leading compassionately in a score-keeping world. Leading for compassion can often require us to throw away the obsolete scorecard and act from a deeper place – a place that doesn’t lend itself to simple measurement.

Lead with Courageous Compassion – It Is What the World Yearns for Right Now

Look around at the people you know. They likely share the same concern you do for the wellbeing of humanity, and would like to find a way, any way, to make a difference. But, as we have said, things can feel overwhelming, and we get stuck. The evidence is clear that compassion and kindness are contagious, and perhaps that knowledge can support a positive motivation to take courageous steps. Be the one to cast the first act of kindness. Others will join in and follow along.

We are all connected in ways that science is just beginning to understand. But we don’t need science to explain this connection to us. We already grasp it in our heart and every cell in our body. When we act with compassion, it will spread through organizations and in the world – just like the night sky lighting with fireflies – through our deep interconnectedness.

In Closing…

Our individual and collective actions create waves of compassionate impact. While the challenges we face can feel overwhelming, we stay the course buoyed by the clarity of our purpose and intention for change. When we feel the depth of compassion in our hearts, and see it reflected in others, no scorecard or evidence is needed to let us know we are moving in the right direction.

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