Compassionate Leadership

In what way is concern for others a leadership issue? And how can we reconcile the demand for performance with concern for others? These are the two questions that lie at the heart of this book. The authors begin their discussion with the results of a study demonstrating the impact that attention to others has on performance. The results reveal that this mindset is invaluable, both for collective performance and for the performance of the individual who exercises it—provided, however, that the necessary distance is taken to know how to make difficult choices and dare to displease when required. The essential challenge consists in combining sincere attention to others with rigorous decision-making in the service of performance and of the collective good. The authors thus explore the conditions for the judicious exercise of empathy. They go on to delve deeper into the conditions and methods for its implementation: preserving one’s emotional energy, organizing one’s availability, the quality of listening, the choice of courage rather than comfort. An enlightening work on the power and limits of empathy, rich in concrete advice on ways of adapting one’s practices accordingly.