Compassion Pandemic: the best thing to emerge in 2020

2020 has been a very challenging year. The worldwide health crisis triggered by COVID-19 has been significant and, for many of us, has directly affected our families and friends. Before we bid farewell to this ‘annus horribilis’, I wanted to reflect on the ‘not-so-horribilis’ things that have emerged.

And I put compassion at the top of the list.

The word compassion comes from the Latin word ‘pati’, meaning to suffer, and the prefix, ‘com’, means with. Compassion literally means to “suffer with”. The connection of suffering with another or others means that compassion stretches beyond sympathy into empathy, kindness and a willingness to help others.

For me, compassion can mean everything from looking after the most vulnerable in our community, to helping a friend or neighbour having a tough time, to being a good listener.

Compassion is also an essential part of being a good leader; research has shown compassionate leaders are seen as more competent and more trusted. And not only that, but being compassionate is essential if you want to be part of a happy and highly functioning team.

We’ve all had a tough year in our own way; and as many commentators have pointed out, compassionate leadership is even more important in times of crisis such as the global pandemic.

Looking forward

2021 will be a year of opportunity but also of continued challenges. The health crisis is not over yet.

What gives me enormous confidence as we enter 2021 is the great strength, resilience, commitment of our society to make the most of an unprecedented situation. 2020 has been a year of huge shifts, which, if we use them wisely, will set up a better future for all of us.

 On a personal note

I am personally so grateful for the support and commitment of our team – humans and horses – here at Leading Edge Professional Development, Leading Edge Life Skills and from our international partners, Equine Connection – The Academy of Equine Assisted Learning.

To think we were able to convert our almost exclusively in person courses to an online format without losing the essence of what we do is an amazing accomplishment.

Compassion is an important focus of what we do at Leading Edge. Confidence, consciousness, compassion are our core values – I think we need to add commitment and courage to those now too as we head into 2021.

For more information or to register for our free upcoming Wholistic Leadership webinar, send us an email info@lepd.com.au

Let’s take a moment to be kind

It’s a crazy world out there, and now more than ever we need to be kind to each other. In our communities, our workplaces and our lives, acts of kindness have a ripple effect. How can leaders be kind and encourage others in turn?

“In a world where you can be anything, be kind.” Dalai Lama

This is one of my favourite quotes because kindness always has such a big impact on the lives of those around us (and in turn, ourselves).

I was given a timely reminder of the value of acts of kindness this week, when one of our own crew received a beautiful ‘thank you’ card just for being themselves and doing their job.

The card was sent as part of b kinder day, an annual event celebrated on June 22 worldwide that encourages thoughtfulness and empathy. The b kinder initiative was started by the wonderful charity Fly High Billie to promote empathy and compassion in school age children to help combat mental health issues, bullying and suicide.

One popular activity is to purchase a ‘b kinder card’ and send it to someone, creating a ripple effect of kindness through the community. Last year, more than 8,500 of these cards were sent around the world.  Other random acts of kindness are encouraged as well, including giving toys, visiting nursing homes, planting sunflowers and making cakes for those that are currently homeless.

What a wonderful idea!

Can you guess who received the card in our team? No, it wasn’t me, nor was it my business partner, Alice. It was actually one of our lovely horses, Cal. Abbie, a small business manager, who worked with Cal wrote, “so many people have been inspired by you…keep being you.”

Kindness is especially important right now, particularly towards those who’ve been impacted by recent events in Australia and around the world. Families and communities who lost homes and businesses in the recent bushfires. Those who have been left without jobs, become ill, or lost a loved one due to COVID-19. And those who have experienced the kind of racial discrimination highlighted by the Black Lives Matter movement.

Encouraging kindness in the workplace

Our programs include kindness as one of the core values of leadership, alongside other values like authenticity and respect. In fact, you literally won’t get anywhere without these soft leadership skills when working with our horses. If they don’t feel that safe leadership piece, they will often plant their feet and you can’t budge a 500kg team mate!

Kindness has, in fact, been proven to be a positive force in the office. A couple of years ago, this study, published in psychology journal Emotion, measured some of the benefits of kindness for both givers and receivers.

Employees in a corporation were randomly assigned to be givers, receivers and controls. Givers practiced five acts of kindness towards receivers over four weeks. Both givers and receivers benefitted, both in short-term measures like competence and autonomy, and in the long-term, with receivers becoming happier after two months and givers more satisfied with their lives. Givers also inspired others to pay their acts of kindness forward, with receivers engaging in 278% more pro-social behaviours than controls.

Kindness is contagious!

So there you go – not just nice to have, but a genuine benefit for your working environment. Here are a few of my ideas for spreading kindness in your team (no doubt you’re already doing a few!):

• Remember to give praise for work well done and encourage this behaviour in teams. Just a quick group email or video conference has the ability to lift everyone’s spirits.
• If team members seem to be struggling, try to be compassionate and see if you can help. Remember they’re all individuals with their own issues.
• Nice gestures go a long way. They don’t have to be expensive gifts to be powerful (the b kinder cards are a great example of why).
• Be kind to those outside your organisation too. Your clients may be facing a lot of issues of their own. And there are many out of work who may be looking to connect or ask for advice. You never know when that may be repaid in turn.

What’s the last act of kindness you performed? What’s a kindness that was shown towards you? Let us know in the comments! For more info or to subscribe to occasional updates please email info@leadingedgelifeskills.com.au