What guides you? Why are you doing the compassionate leadership work that you do? Purpose connects our actions to deeper meaning, at both a personal and collective level. Here are five books that will help you move more deeply into purpose at every level, from the individual to the systemic level, for your summer reading in the Northern Hemisphere or mid-winter reading in the Southern Hemisphere.

We all come into this world with the innate dignity shared by every human. Recognizing this truth changes how we relate to ourselves, to those we lead, and to the cultures we build. A foundational principle for all compassionate leaders is to foster environments where dignity is honored within and between every individual.

In a time when brute force is loudly heralded as effective leadership, and when a prominent billionaire can proclaim that “the fundamental weakness of Western Civilization is empathy,” to center a professional gathering around dignity, compassion, and human flourishing is a radical act.

Today’s wellbeing solutions often assume that the cause of stress is inside the person rather than in the system. Because of that, current approaches aren’t working. It’s time to acknowledge the foundational cause of workplace stress and build solutions that go to the root.

At every turn, it feels like we're at each other's throats. Headlines showcase another argument, another fight, another cycle of division. The temptation in these moments is to fight back – to defend our position with equal force, to escalate. But that only intensifies the violence. That only deepens the fractures. What we need instead is cooperation and collaboration.

These times challenge us at our core. What does it mean to be human? How do we create a world that supports the thriving of all people and the planet? What distinguishes how we weather the storm isn’t just our individual skill, adaptation, or resolve, but the strength of the communities we belong to.

We’re living through what some describe as a polycrisis: overlapping, compounding challenges of climate change, social inequality, political instability, global conflict, and rapid technological disruption. We’re stretched thin and often unsupported at work. Stress has become normalized, showing up in organizational culture, morale, and performance. And now, added to the mix: anxiety about A.I.

Adversity is an inevitable part of life. We all experience setbacks, struggles, and hardships that challenge our sense of stability and well-being. Yet, amid difficulty, there is an often-overlooked force that can sustain us: joy. Joy is not the absence of hardship but the presence of something deeper – an inner strength that allows us to navigate challenges with resilience and hope.

Compassionate action is where awareness, generous interpretation, and empathy take shape in the real world. True compassion calls us to act with both nurturing care and courageous resolve. While we cannot eliminate all suffering, we can respond with intention, offering what is possible. In organizations, compassionate action is the bridge between values and practice.

In our exploration of the elements of compassion, we have examined awareness and connection – the foundations that allow us to truly see and engage with others. Now, we turn our attention to empathy, the third essential component. Empathy is the emotional resonance that brings us into deeper alignment with the experiences of others. It is the bridge between noticing suffering and taking meaningful action.