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How to Lead with Compassion

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This is a third blog of sharing my thoughts on the book Awakening Compassion at Work by Monica Worline and Jane Dutton, 2017.  My last blog addressed if compassion at work really matters.  My current blog will present ideas on leading with and for compassion.

The authors state there are two ways in which leaders “awaken compassion competence” in organizations.

  • Leading with Leaders who are effective in cultivating relationships, knowing people, listening to others about their lives, and caring deeply about others, lead with compassion.  It’s the personal side of leading.  This also includes being attentive to suffering and responding with compassion.  An example of this leadership is Bob Chapman, CEO of the engineering firm Barry-Wehmiller.  Chapman describes his leadership as, “To us, stewardship means to truly care, to feel a deep sense of responsibility for the lives we touch through our leadership.  Those lives can often appear broken, as people suffer through toxic cultures and abusive leadership.  Our aspiration is to heal this brokenness and restore people to their full and joyful humanity.”  Watch this short YouTube of Chapman.
  • Leading for This is how “leaders use their position to shift the social architecture and direct resources that can be used to alleviate suffering.”  An example is Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, who promotes the principle of managing compassionately in the organization, whether it is in hiring, promoting, coaching, and even terminating employees.  Watch this YouTube clip of Weiner being interviewed about what he means by managing compassionately.

The authors list organizational impacts of leading with and for compassion.  Two examples follow.

Leading with compassion:

  • “Seeing compassion modeled in everyday work interactions opens up the possibility that an organization’s members can take compassion from work to home, improving their family and community relationships.”

Leading for compassion:

  • “Leading for compassion can entail transformation and change of all elements of the organization’s social architecture.”

I leave you with these questions – “When has a leader touched your life through leading for and with compassion?  How can you emulate that behavior with your employees?”

I welcome your responses.

 

Does compassion at work really matter?

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This is a second blog of sharing my thoughts on the book Awakening Compassion at Work by Monica Worline and Jane Dutton, 2017.  My last blog described compassion at work.

Does compassion at work really matter?  The authors’ research details what they call “the compassion advantage” for any type of organization.  Their premise is that compassion matters more in building high-performing organizations than most people recognize.  They identify six strategic advantages of compassion at work: [Read more…]

Guilt vs. Shame

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In my work with self-compassion, we talk about guilt vs. shame. Both Brene’ Brown, research professor at the University of Houston, and Kristin Neff, Associate Professor of Human Development and Culture at the University of Texas, describe guilt and shame the same way.

  • Guilt – “I feel bad about something I did.”
  • Shame – “I am bad.”

Now, think about the difference between the two.  We can repair guilt when we’ve done something bad, e.g., offended someone.  We can apologize to that person, take responsibility for the hurt we caused, and ask for forgiveness.  As Kristin Neff says, “Research shows that self-compassion allows us to experience our feelings of sadness, regret, and guilt without getting trapped by feelings of shame.” [Read more…]

Root cause, not root “who”

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When a problem arises in your workplace, do you focus on who caused the problem or the process that led to the problem?

This was the question a client, an Executive Director of a senior care retirement community, raised with me this month.  His leadership practice is “root cause, not root who.”  When a department director brings a problem to his attention, he insists that they focus on the problem, not the person.  He tells them, “Don’t tell me the person(s) involved.  Let’s identify the process that led to the problem.”

He made this shift when he realized that too much attention was focused on the staff people involved, which side tracked addressing what was really important – the process.  

 

[Read more…]

Whites Need to Learn About White Fragility

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The recent USA Today’s report, “Snapshots of Racism” which found a stunning number of student photos in blackface, KKK hoods and holding mock lynchings in college and university yearbooks during the 1970’s and 1980’s should alarm employers.  An employer may be thinking, “So, what does this have to do with my business?  We have diversity training and a fairly diverse workforce.  Those photos were taken years ago.  We don’t have anything like that in our work environment.  Everyone gets along well and respects each other.”

Let’s be blunt.  [Read more…]

Words of Wisdom – Part 1

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What follows are words of wisdom from several books I’ve recently read.  May the words offer you wisdom, reflection, and thoughtfulness.

Compassion

“Change brings loss, and loss brings grief, often disguised as anger, fear, anxiety, or resentment.  It seems like we suffer because of change.  [Read more…]

How Do You Give Feedback?

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I read an article called “The Feedback Fallacy” in this month’s Harvard Business Review.  While reading I’m thinking, I already know what feedback is, how to give it, and its value.  Why should I waste my time reading another article on feedback?  And then I read this sentence,

“… it turns out that telling people what we think of their performance and how they can do better is not the best way to help them excel and, in fact, can hinder development.”

This is a MUST read article on feedback that will challenge the conventional notions we’ve all learned.  Here is a taste of what you will learn.
[Read more…]

500th Anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci

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This year marks the 500th year of the death of Leonardo da Vinci, one of the most brilliant critical and creative thinkers in human history.

I’ve been a follower of da Vinci for years, read several books about him, incorporated his critical thinking skills into my consulting work, and facilitated a number of workshops to teach people about his creative thinking techniques.  One of my favorite da Vinci books is How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci – Seven Steps to Genius Every Day by Michael J. Gelb, a world-renowned innovator in fields of creative thinking, accelerated learning, and leadership development. [Read more…]

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Pokorny Consulting
Des Moines, Iowa

Phone: (515) 205-5513