The Compassion Challenge

When you think about the idea of compassion, what (or who) comes to mind?

For me, I picture a vast reservoir filled with love and understanding for all of humanity (and other conscious life), but especially for those most in need of help.

• I think of people who deliver food and medical care in areas ravaged by war.
• I think of those who help the homeless get housing, food, and medical care.
• I think of those advocating for their colleagues and peers even if it means standing up to power structures and risking their own safety.

Compassion is what happens when our care for others becomes so real and our desire to help so significant that we can’t stay on the sidelines.

Expanding our capacity for compassion is not some sort of leadership hack, nor shortcut for feeling like a good person.

It’s seeing others as an extension of ourselves, and seeing that their safety is bound in our own.

“nobody’s free until everybody’s free”

– Fannie Lou Hamer

Today’s challenge is an extension of last week’s empathy challenge. Because once we truly understand, we can start to see that our only option is to act.

The Business of Compassion

On this blog, I often try to write about becoming superhuman in the context of business. But business is notoriously indifferent to anything that appears to fall directly outside of capital accumulation. And so talking about empathy, compassion, or love can seem more like the territory of prophets than profits.

But practicing compassionate business actually has many advantages, even in the cold, calculating world of shareholder value business.

A compassionate business would have lower turnover and more engaged employees. It would take greater care of the environment, leading to a longer more sustainable customer base. But perhaps more importantly, it would remind that we are not here to serve the interest of, but rather it is here to serve the interest of people.

At the end of the day, what is business except people transacting with other people? Bringing compassion into that equation seems like a better way to do business.

Acts of Compassion

In my book The Lovable Leader, I talk a lot about care, because if leadership were strictly about the rules of “professionalism” we would stay emotionally distant, pretending that other people’s problems are of no concern to us. And yet, we innately know the dangers of seeing problems in isolation, or having our teams operate in silos.

But much like breaking down organizational silos, we can’t cross the bridge from the rules of callous professionalism to the practice of compassionate leadership by simply following a prescriptive playbook.

We need to marry deep understanding with purposeful action. This is made up of both large and small actions. Compassion, though often seen as soft and warm, often shows up in very practical ways.

• Sometimes it looks like protection.
• Sometimes it looks like speaking up.
• Sometimes it looks like taking on a little more so someone else can catch their breath.

The way we get there is by becoming the kind of person whose empathy reliably turns into action.

Empathy keeps us human. Compassion keeps us connected.

The Compassion Challenge

We live in a time where it’s easy to know what’s happening in the world and still feel powerless to change anything. We have more awareness than ever. Let’s act on it.

This week, I’m challenging you to practice compassion in real, tangible ways. Don’t just notice what someone needs, respond to it.

But it needs to be something within reach. Don’t worry about grand heroic gestures. Instead, look for those tiny actions that reduce someone’s burden, protect their dignity, or help them feel less alone.

Here are three steps to practice compassion this week.

1. Pick one person to help
2. Ask an action question
3. Do something helpful while still taking care of yourself

I’ll break these down.

Step 1: Pick One Person

Look for one person who needs help.

Maybe it’s something obvious. Maybe it’s something subtle.

You get to decide. But find one person to help, not to save, so you can strengthen your practice of compassion. Compassion is harder to grasp without a face and a story.

Step 2: Ask an action question

Empathy seeks to understand: “What is this like for you?”

Compassion seeks to find: “What would help?”

Sometimes the easiest way to find out is to shift the words we use to ask a question.

Instead of “what’s wrong?” We can ask “what can I do to help” or possibly even more concretely “would it be helpful if I took [task/responsibility] off of your plate?”

When we see someone appearing to struggle in the water, we needn’t ask what it feels like, but we probably should ask if they need help. In some cases, we best just throw the life raft anyway.

Step 3: Do something helpful while still taking care of yourself

The heart of the challenge is to do something.

Look for something you can begin or accomplish within 24 hours.

This is going to be something that costs you something. This is where that second part comes in: taking care of yourself.

Compassion is not a vibe. It’s an action requiring our time, effort, resources, attention, and/or convenience. We cannot give more than we have. We shouldn’t do something that builds up resentment, or that robs others of their agency.

Each of us has to decide where our lines are drawn and boundaries enforced. But we may never know those boundaries unless we look for them.

We’re looking to do what is compassionate but also sustainable.

Why we challenge ourselves

Over the last 6 posts, I’ve posed different challenges. If you are wondering why, it’s because a challenge is a mechanism of action that pits us against ourselves. When we willingly opt in to take a challenge, we are competing to become a better version of ourselves.

• One that works a little harder in service of something we care about.
• One that builds resolve and resilience.
• One that proves what we’re capable of.

You don’t have to do any of these challenges. These aren’t written as commands. They’re not intended to shame you.

These are invitations and I hope you’ll accept.

I hope you enjoyed this post!

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