I wonder, how many of our leaders in our organizations are the compassionate ones (value and purpose-driven)? Probably it is more a question of what does that mean and perhaps does it really matter in these times of covid and disruption?
Digging deep to understand not the “what” question but a “how” question is important. Did you realize that from a neurobiological perspective it is very much about the leader’s capacity to perceive internally their own sensations (interoception), emotions, and intentions, as their own felt sense, before they can empathize with another person? If not the leader may not be able to accurately perceive the other person. The leader’s capacity may be limited by their perception of the other person to whom they might be in need of empathy. How often do we ever consider that our leaders need to develop their own capacity to feel their sensations? Should we consider this perception of sensations as an invisible aspect of their development? The research suggests “the less you can feel yourself, the less you can “suffer with”, or have compassion for another”. Do we desire our leaders to “feel” their internal sensations at all?
