Welcome to the Monthly Newsletter by Amer Kaissi

Edition #36, November 2022

“Compassionate Leadership” is one of my favorite leadership books of the year. Based on extensive research and in-depth interviews, Hougaard & Carter explain the concept of wise compassion, which is the ability of leaders to do hard things in a human way.

Compassion is not about pleasing others, it is about the intention to be of benefit to others, even if that means addressing their unacceptable behavior in a tough and direct way. Wisdom is about understanding that if we don’t do the hard things today, they will become even harder tomorrow. As the authors explain, “wisdom without compassion can be ruthless, and compassion without wisdom can be naïve.”

One of the most interesting aspects of the research is the comparison between female and male leaders on compassionate wisdom. Female leaders were rated as wiser & more compassionate by their followers than their male counterparts. Male leaders, on the other hand, rated themselves much higher. Moreover, female leaders demonstrated more self-awareness as they rated themselves closer to their follower ratings, while male leaders had a three-times larger discrepancy between their self-ratings and their followers’ ratings.

Some of the concepts that are worth exploring in this book are: “connect with empathy, lead with compassion,” the importance of “busylessness,” how leaders should overcome their “Default Mode Network,” and courageous confrontations, among others.

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Dr. Amer Kaissi is a Top Leadership Keynote Speaker. He speaks about leadership, teams and culture.