Do you know leaders that show compassion? This leadership quality is recognizing another person’s distress or suffering and feeling a strong, active desire to help alleviate it. There have been times in my personal and professional life when I’ve been too compassionate which drained my energy, resources and time.
Maybe it was because of the chaplain, counselor or mom in my heart and mind that wanted to help others (sometimes more than they wanted to help themselves.) The key is to find a balance of compassion and to set healthy boundaries.
“Compassion is more than simply showing empathy or even listening and seeking to understand. Compassion requires leaders to act on what they learn. After someone shares a concern or speaks up about something, they won’t feel truly heard if their leader doesn’t then take some type of meaningful action on the information, our researchers have found. This is the core of compassionate leadership, and it helps to build trust, increase collaboration, and decrease turnover across organizations.” – Center for Creative Leadership
Ultimately, leaders need to be willing to follow their internal compass. Is it a strong gut feeling of “yes” or a strong gut feeling of “no”? My hospital chaplain instructor, George Karl, shared that when his gut was talking to him, he felt like it was God speaking.
Be willing to show compassion to others and my personal philosophy is to give people grace on the first offence, make a mental note on the second (unless danger or harm results) and on the third? Time for a Crucial Conversation or Fierce Conversation. Two excellent books by the way!
Blessings,
Merikay
