Contributed by: Pastor Darron Lamont Edwards

Compassion and leadership – these two words don’t often go together in our post-modern culture.  There is a belief that we must be strong and tough to be effective and “softness” is often seen as a sign of weakness.  This thinking is actually out of alignment with my lived experiences as a leader and goes against some of the best research available to us regarding leadership.

Contributed by: Dr. Ian Roberts

"If I commit to leading with compassion, will I be perceived as a weak leader?”

“Does this mean that I cannot hold people accountable?"

“Is this leadership stance a reflection of being decision averse?”

“Can I correct or terminate an ineffective employee with empathy and compassion?"

Many people often confuse empathy and compassion. The truth is, these words have very different meanings, but there is a very strong relationship in leadership. Empathy should be viewed as a gateway to compassion. It’s a willingness to understand how someone or a group feels, trying to “walk a mile in their shoes” and then think about how you might feel in a similar situation. On the other hand, compassion builds on empathy.

You’ve been called into your manager’s office to discuss a team issue. It turns out that someone on your team has been complaining about how you are working. They took their complaints to “the boss” and now s/he has stepped in to help you iron out the issue. This is an all-too-common situation that comes up with teams. We’ve noticed a growing trend in organizations, small and large alike, where individuals spend more time talk talking ABOUT people than to them.

A colleague of mine, Brian Goines, Sr., once said, “Using pretty words to explain ugly truths is exhausting.” Half of the words in this quote are subjective, but I absolutely love this line.  Words like “pretty”, “ugly”, “truths”, and even “exhausting” mean very different things depending on context. This is why the work of Byron Katie is important.