Hello!

Today I want to bring an analysis from Harvard Business Review that I liked very much, the title of which is Compassionate Leadership Is Necessary — but Not Sufficient, by Rasmus Hougaard, Jacqueline Carter and Nick Hobson.

As always, in our way, I will make a free translation here and occasionally provide my thought. 

We have seen around lists of the skills that leaders may exercise, or develop, during the current period, among which is a greater kindness power. Therefore, besides exercising a more human management, and understanding the people around him in a more compassionate way, what else can be necessary?

Let’s take a look:

Compassionate Leadership at a Time That Calls For Humanization 

Hougaard and Hobson begin their article contextualizing the unique scenario in which we live:

“A global pandemic, Depression-level unemployment, civil and political unrest – from New York to Barcelona to Hong Kong, it feels as if the world as we know it is faltering. Economies are unwinding; jobs are disappearing. Through it all, our spirit is being tested. Now, more than ever, it’s imperative for leaders to demonstrate compassion” (my emphasis).

What is Compassion After All? 

And the authors define compassion:

“Compassion is the quality of having positive intentions and real concern for others”.

Next they define compassion in leadership:

“Compassion in leadership creates stronger connections between people. It improves collaboration, raises levels of trust, and enhances loyalty. In addition, studies find that compassionate leaders are perceived as stronger and more competent”. 

Thus:

“As the tragedy and hardship of our current context unfold, companies are awakened to the greater value in caring about people’s wellbeing”.

In the research Project called Potential Project, the authors studied and wrote about the importance of compassion in leadership for many years, and they also trained the leaders of global organizations in how to implement compassionate leadership.

About such experience, they say:

Through this work, we’ve discovered a key component of compassionate leadership, something most other experts overlook: Compassion on its own is not enough. For effective leadership, compassion must be combined with wisdom. “For an effective leadership, compassion must be combined with wisdom”.

And What is Wisdom in That Case?

By wisdom, we mean leadership competence, a deep understanding of what motivates people and how to manage them to deliver on agreed priorities.

Leadership is hard. To be effective, it often requires pushing agendas, giving tough feedback, making hard decisions that disappoint people, and, in some cases, laying people off. 

Showing compassion in leadership cannot come at the expense of wisdom and effectiveness. You need both. Wise compassionate leadership is the ability to do hard things in a human way. “Wise compassionate leadership is the ability to do hard things in a human way”.

It is important to understand that these styles or modes of leadership do not necessarily indicate permanent, hardwired characteristics of a leader, but more often are indicative of a particular mood or mindset or context that a leader is operating in.

4 Integration Profiles: Compassion and Wisdom

1. In one extreme, when kindness hinders the leader from taking necessary actions, leaders care for people – which is great – but they tend to avoid the tough parts of leadership like giving hard feedback.

2. On the other hand, there are the leaders who are ineffective and indifferent, operating in a mode that is the opposite of mindful. Lacking both compassion and wisdom, these leaders appear to their followers as uncaring and unprofessional.

3. There are also the leaders who are effectively executing on their business objectives, but have little compassion, and may always run the risk of seeming indifferent, or even of reaching limited engagement with himself by the collaborators.

4. Finally, in a more harmonic integration, in a “wise compassion”, are the leaders who deliver the best results. Leaders operating in this mode are balancing concern for their people with the need to move their organizations forward in an efficient, productive manner. When tough action is needed, they get it done with genuine caring for people’s feelings and well-being.

Elsewhere, I have already mentioned here as an example of such balance the book:  “Power and Love: Theory and Practice of Social Change”, by Adam Kahane. Therefore, it is worth emphasizing that small work, which helps understand such balance between compassion and wisdom.

Test Your Compassion as a Leader 

To better understand wise compassionate leadership, the authors gathered data from 15,000 leaders in more than 5,000 companies that span almost 100 countries.

To gauge your own compassion as a leader and contribute to our data set, feel free to take this quick assessment.

According to the authors, “Through extensive data modeling, we have discovered a clear correlation between higher levels of wise compassion and promotability. In other words, the more wise compassion you practice as a leader, the faster and higher you will rise in the ranks. This is great news, a clear confirmation that we do well ourselves by doing good to others”.

The latter subject deals with something I studied in my graduate course, namely: the set of motivations for the people to help one another.

What I found in my research was that the field of the motivations make up a wide spectrum of the academic researches on gift, compassion and volunteering. They basically go through theories that describe which aspects are associated to altruism in contrast (or not) with selfishness.

And those motivations may be integrated in a single motivation experience, or dissolved in multiple reasons.

Generically, they pass:

1. firstly, by a dialogue of the internal content of the possible of what helps (their values, life stage, previous experiences, etc.)

2. secondly, by its sociability experience (its interpersonal influences: the context and social rules, the social network that it makes up).

Thus, education, family and religion are great formers or not of people, and consequently, compassionate leaders.

Besides, the person may have a selfish primary motivation, that is, focused on his or personal goals, or altruistic, in the opposite extreme, in which he or she abnegates by the kindness with the others.

There are also the multiple motivations and measurement models of the multiple motivations for charity and compassion that were particularly studied in the 1990’s.

But back to our translation:

Tips and Routines to Cultivate Wise Compassion 

One of the most important revelations in our data was that having a regular mindfulness routine leads to increased wise compassion. This effect on leadership style likely results from the fact that mindfulness practice makes people more self-aware and more cognizant of the behaviors and emotions of others. With greater awareness and presence, leaders are more intentional in bringing wisdom and compassion to an issue.

Here are a few tips to better develop compassion and wisdom as components of your leadership style. If your wisdom is strong but you still need to develop more compassion, here are a few things you can do:

1. Have more self-compassion:

Having genuine compassion for others starts with having compassion for yourself. If you’re overloaded and out of balance, it’s impossible to help others find their balance. Self-compassion includes getting quality sleep and taking breaks during the day. For many leaders, self-compassion means letting go of obsessive self-criticism. Stop criticizing yourself for what you could have done differently or better. You probably wouldn’t talk to a good friend or colleague who needed help the same way you address yourself. Instead, cultivate self-talk that is positive. Then reframe setbacks as a learning experience. What will you do differently in the future?

2. Verify your intention:

Make a habit of checking your intention before you meet others. Put yourself in their shoes. With their reality in mind, ask yourself: How can I best be of benefit to this person or these people?

3. Take on a daily compassion practice:

Compassion is a trainable skill. Our brains have an incredible level of neuroplasticity, which means that the mental states you develop can get stronger and more prominent. (We’ve developed an app that can support you in increasing your compassion).

If your compassion is strong but you would like to increase your wisdom, here are a few helpful strategies:

4. Practice candid transparency:

As leaders, it is our responsibility to provide the guidance people need, even if it is difficult for them to hear. When a team member is underperforming, be candid and tell her or him what to work on. If you conceal your concerns in an attempt to be kind, people will neither understand expectations nor benefit from your wisdom. Because of this, concealing tough criticism is not kind – it is misleading. Instead, being clear is kind. Be direct and transparent.

5. One daily direct interaction:

If your natural inclination is more oriented towards compassion, being kind is your comfort zone. To improve your wisdom, try to adopt a habit of having at least one daily direct and assertive interaction with a person. It will help you to move out of your comfort zone and better develop your leadership wisdom. 

6. Adopt a daily training of full attention:

Research shows that when we practice mindfulness, we gain greater wisdom and leadership competence (Here is a tool that can help you get started with mindfulness training).

There will be many hard days, weeks, and months ahead. A mindset of wise compassion is the most effective, and humane, way to support people through these difficult times.  As we collectively face the challenges, we’ll need to make tough decisions. We should all strive to do these hard things in a human way.