isolation

From Separation to Connection

From Separation to Connection

Research shows in recent years that 60% of Americans are deemed to be lonely. We all feel it to some degree, and our mental and emotional health is compromised as a result. In fact, lacking social connection, both at work and in our personal lives, can have as negative an impact on a person’s mortality as smoking, hypertension, or physical inactivity.

You Are Not Your Job

You Are Not Your Job

We choose our work based on its alignment with our own values and needs. We naturally identify with work in valuable and healthy ways. If we take this identification too far, it can become harmful. Overidentification can have harmful impacts on both our personal and our professional lives. Foundational practices of inner compassion can support compassionate leaders in avoiding the pitfalls of overidentifying with work.

We Are Not Alone

We Are Not Alone

Our drive to achieve and accumulate comes from a place of wanting to create safety. It also comes with a terrible cost. The more we succeed at setting ourselves apart, the lonelier it becomes. The good news is that we are also wired to care for each other. Recognizing our interconnectedness supports us in leading in order to thrive individually, in communities, and in organizations.

The Bookends of Compassionate Leadership

The Bookends of Compassionate Leadership

The journey of life and leadership is a never-ending series of cycles, requiring different optimal action depending on the circumstances. There are two constants central to the work of every compassionate leader: self-compassion and the recognition of our shared common humanity. These two provide a powerful foundation for compassionate leaders to act, and guide their choice of the approach to use.

The Outer Circle of the Center for Compassionate Leadership’s Model: Compassion for the Greater Good

The Outer Circle of the Center for Compassionate Leadership’s Model: Compassion for the Greater Good

Compassion for the greater good is the outer circle of the Center for Compassionate Leadership’s model. Without an anchoring in our interconnectedness with everyone and everything, self-compassion and compassion for others can quickly devolve into narcissism or manipulation.

The Heart of the Center for Compassionate Leadership’s Model: Self-Compassion

The Heart of the Center for Compassionate Leadership’s Model: Self-Compassion

At the heart of our Compassionate Leadership model is the innermost circle representing self-compassion. Compassionate Leadership as developed in our model is built from the inside out. It is critical to stand in a position of authentic grounding in our truest self. Before we can effectively lead others, we must be an effective leader of our own life.