In business, there is a long history of characterizing “soft skills” like compassion as a sign of weakness that has no place in business. Nothing could be further from the truth. Research shows when leaders are compassionate, employees feel greater loyalty, and in turn, show more compassion to coworkers and customers, which creates even more loyalty.

In a way, this pandemic makes it easier to feel and show compassion, since we’re all in the same boat and can better relate to the suffering of others. As the saying goes, don’t let a crisis go to waste! Put love to work by practicing compassion.

Everything is Falling Apart Beautifully

“Hi, thinking of you and checking in. How are you Chiara?” This is what I texted my friend, yoga teacher, and mystic Chiara Stella. “We are well, thank you. Everything is falling apart beautifully,” she responded. Wow. What a great perspective I thought. The ability to see beauty as destruction is happening. 

This pandemic is inviting us in the West to understand what Eastern wisdom traditions have known for eons. Painful as it can be, destroying is as natural and necessary as creating and preserving. For in destruction, we let go and make space for something better. Consider your COVID-19 experience to date:

• What are you letting go of? 
• What “better” is emerging for you?
• What else can you release?

4 Ways to Put Love to Work by Showing Compassion

1. Start with empathy. Ask yourself how you would react if what you did or said to a colleague or customer was being done or said to you—if you were in their position. This can lead to compassion. 
2. Slow down. In tough situations, take a breath—actually stop long enough to breathe in and breathe out—before you react. This helps you ground yourself and find compassion. 
3. Filter your words. Before you speak, submit your words to what some call the three gates of speech. Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? 
4. Remember Amare. Keep top of mind the meaning of amare that is “being grounded in a desire to better each other’s well-being.” 

Compassion On Purpose

Being “on purpose” is one of the principles of the Amare Way that enables a culture of compassion. ServiceNow is a great example. A fast-growing digital workflow company, they recognized a need and very quickly created a COVID-19 Customer Care Program with four new, free community apps to help all organizations, not just customers, deal with the pandemic most effectively. 

My daughter Jessa, a behavioral scientist who conducts user research there, said the company really lives their mantra of winning by helping people, and keeps asking: How can we make the world of work, work better for people? The starting point is ServiceNow’s own employees. CEO Bill McDermott pledged that the company would not lay off anyone in 2020, so that employees can rest assured that their job is secure and focus on supporting customers. ServiceNow is a company that is on purpose and with compassion, notably amped up during a global crisis. 

Resources for Putting Love to Work

Free coaching for teams: TdF is a team-building and executive coaching firm that is eager to do meaningful service during this pandemic. They just created a new team assessment and coaching package relevant for this time. I’m told it’s normally several thousand dollars, and they are offering it free through May 5 to Amare Wave Wednesday readers. Please contact Ryan Stanley for more info (and read his awesome story, Finding Alignment  with Brain-Gasms, in my book).

Find help or give help: AARP, a longtime client, quickly built an online matching resource called AARP Community Connections to help people throughout the U.S. find places in their own communities to offer help and to get assistance during the coronavirus pandemic. 

More stories: More great examples here of on-purpose companies putting love to work, compiled by friend and culture change expert Brooke Erol.

Today’s Amare Wave Wednesday Quote

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”
—Dalai Lama

Thanks everyone for tuning in to Amare Wave Wednesday! Do YOUR one amare thing today to improve your business and grow the wave!

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