Compassion is good for you

By extending kindness, patience and curiosity to all you meet you make your community a better place, which in turn benefits you and those you care for. That much should be obvious, but how can you play it into your workplace, and crucially how can you keep it authentic?

The chronic power stress associated with leadership in today’s fast paced, heavily regulated and publically accountable environment negatively affects leader sustainability like never before. We hear about burn out, we see it in our friends and colleagues, we’re aware of constant shift round the top table as senior executives take the jump or get the push.

However, a study by Boyzatis* found that in experiencing the compassion associated with coaching others, leader sustainability across the study group was improved, in other words coaching is good for you! It follows that a coaching organisation, or workplace in which self-awareness and reflection are valued and actively encouraged, is a more emotionally intelligent, flexible and adaptable one, whose workforce is better equipped to deal with change.

As a leader, you can practise a compassionate coaching methodology in your organisation. Focus on resilience, building empathy and self-esteem. Combined with a solution focussed approach you will find this encourages individuals to develop a new mind set and change behaviours, in turn leading to greater effectiveness in the workplace.