Leading With Compassion and Empathy

I’ve been fortunate to work with many leaders who have compassion and empathy for their people and customers, their communities, and beyond. I’ve also occasionally worked with a few that have no compassion or empathy towards others.

In either case, while they are titled “leaders,” it was clear to me who followed whom. And it seemed that people mostly attract others like themselves.

Those with compassion and empathy find ways to connect with others in order to better understand where they come from, why they do what they do, and find ways to motivate them to move forward.

Those without compassion or empathy seem to have one mind. They believe they are right and everyone else is wrong, and nothing could change their mind about anyone or anything. I have seen that once they learn the reality, they slowly began to shift.

So no matter what you think about leadership with what’s happening around the world today, with oppression being imposed on the people of Palestine every day, it becomes clear that you either open your eyes to see what’s happening, or you close your eyes, ears, and heart, and just keep pushing forward.

Either way, it is a choice we make as individuals, as leaders, as people within a community, and citizens of the globe.

BEFORE YOU GO

We see our blogs as opportunities for dialogue. Please share your thoughts as comments.

1. What have you done to better understand the other side?

2. What have you done to engage in a conversation about the reality on the ground vs the reality you make up with no facts to back up?

3. Have you done anything to check the “facts”? are they real? Are they made up?

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Faris Alami is Founder and CEO of International Strategic Management, Inc. (ISM). He works internationally, presenting Exploring Entrepreneurship Workshops and other entrepreneurial ecosystem — related ventures.