Compassionate Leadership Essentials from 2020

This year has truly been one to demonstrate the importance of compassionate leadership. The challenges facing leadership this year have been historic: COVID-19, systemic racism, and the polarizing effect of the 2020 elections. As we look back, it was a year that never stopped demanding that leaders respond with greater compassion. We’ve chosen the essential blog posts – three individual posts and two series of posts – to help you gain a better understanding of compassionate leadership and how to operationalize it so that your organization embraces a compassionate culture.

An important starting point for building compassionate leadership is understanding what it is, a topic covered in “What is the Definition of Compassionate Leadership?

Taking this definition of compassionate leadership and translating it into organizational culture is the subject of our four-part blog series “Transform and Thrive Through Compassionate Leadership.

One of the critical elements of a compassionate organizational culture is a culture of belonging. This past year brought a period of increased interest among organizational leaders to address systemic racism. “From Othering to Belonging” offers leaders ways to break down the system of othering and build a truly inclusive culture.

Finally, we recommend our three-part series on “Your Roadmap for Compassionate Leadership” as a tool for exploring the “how” of creating a more compassionate culture as you dive into 2021.

At the beginning of the year, we hoped that 2020 would become the Decade of Compassion. The need for truly compassionate leaders in every aspect of life has never been more evident or urgent. We hope that this coming year will be a year of compassion for you, your families, communities, and organizations.

Photo Credit: sydneynewyearseve(dot)com.