Now more than ever, it’s imperative for leaders to demonstrate compassion towards themselves and their employees. Leaders who actively practice compassion toward themselves benefit both themselves and their employees, according to a new paper co-authored by Ross School of Business Professor and Sanger Faculty Champion Sue Ashford.
“We tend to think of leadership as a universally good thing, so we don’t fully account for the hardships of leadership. We don’t think of self-compassion as something that’s particularly needed or important,” Ashford said in an interview. “But without self-compassion, the hardships can lead you to think, ‘If I’m having such trouble with this role, am I really a leader at all?’ We found that self-compassion helps you to hold onto your identity as a leader.”
Read more about the experiment researchers conducted in which leaders engaged in a brief self-compassion exercise.Continue Reading
Sue Ashford, Michael & Susan Jandernoa Professor of Management and Organizations