We hear a lot about compassion in higher education and its importance for the wellbeing of staff and students.
The benefits of compassionate leadership can be seen in the fact that a recipient of compassion will have positive emotions and a stronger attachment to the workplace, which helps our organisations grow, our students be happier and us to retain talent. In addition to feeling satisfied at work, compassionate leaders are perceived as strong and intelligent, meaning they build better, happier teams. When compassion is absent, people may feel unvalued. All this explains why leaders especially must practise compassion, although it may not always come naturally or easily to them.
Still, we could be more naturally compassionate. To overcome this, we must be aware of the barriers that may hinder us, including bystander syndrome, self-interest, and the ability to cope with the complicated feelings that accompany compassion.
Understanding compassion’s multiple forms is the first step toward getting it right. Strauss et al’s five elements of compassion provide a comprehensive taxonomy of compassion that goes beyond a traditional dictionary definition. It includes recognition of the suffering of others, a shared understanding of the humanity of suffering, an emotional connection to the suffering person, a tolerance of difficult feelings, and a willingness to act to help. It is a broad definition that acknowledges the importance of compassion in all aspects of prosocial behaviour.
