Courage of Compassion, The: A Journey from Judgement to Connection

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How do compassionate leaders behave? They empathise with their colleagues and seek to understand the challenges they face; they are committed to supporting others to cope with and respond successfully to work challenges; and they are focused on enabling those they lead to be effective and thrive in their work. Compassionate leaders don’t have all the answers and don’t simply tell people what to do, instead they engage with the people they work with to find shared solutions to problems. Compassionate leadership involves a focus on relationships through careful listening to, understanding, empathising with and supporting other people, enabling those we lead to feel valued, respected and cared for, so they can reach their potential and do their best work. There is clear evidence that compassionate leadership results in more engaged and motivated staff with high levels of wellbeing, which in turn results in high-quality care ( West 2021). The Courage of Compassion was published in September 2020, and sought to identify solutions to the issues which contributed to poor mental health and well-being across the professions. The report recommended the use of a framework called the ‘ABC of nurses and midwives core work needs.’ This aims to facilitate well-being and motivation at work and to reduce workplace stress. The ABC of core work needs involves:

Nurture and sustain just, fair and psychologically safe cultures and ensure equity, proactive and positive approaches to diversity and universal inclusion. The Health and Care Select Committee recently conducted an inquiry on workforce burnout and resilience in the NHS and social care ( House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee 2021). It concluded that burnout is a widespread reality in today’s NHS and has negative consequences for the mental health of individual staff, which has an impact on their colleagues and the patients and service users they care for. Compassion“Is compassion a moral force? The answer, according to many spiritual leaders like the Dalai Lama, is a resounding yes. The experience of compassion, they assert, has a radiating effect, extending kindness and forgiveness toward others, even those who have intentionally transgressed.” (DeSteno, & Valdesolo, 2012)In the 2019 NHS Staff Survey, the trust scored highest nationally for health and wellbeing, morale, and equality, diversity and inclusion. As the pandemic started, the trust adapted its staff engagement platform to develop Corona Voice – a short web-based survey that enabled staff to raise issues, voice concerns and share their experiences in real time. Each week, staff were asked to rate their motivation for work on a scale of 1–10, alongside a varying set of 3–4 additional questions. Dedicated data analysts and researchers at Open Lab at Newcastle University supported measurement and evaluation of the data within the patient and staff experience team.

Having compassion and courage means that you start looking from the inside out. What happens to you when someone says something to you that you don’t like? What happens when you feel hurt, or when you are totally excited? What does it say about you and your feelings? If you can fully control and understand what happens with your emotions and feelings, you can open a brighter mind and vision towards the people around you and act with compassion and courage.

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Rarely have I read a book about criminal justice that is as moving and profound. Weaving personal stories with insights about why justice is often illusory, Steinberg’s point is clear: social change requires us all to take a journey to understand those we have ‘othered’ and ignored.” Compassion has been understood in terms of concern for the suffering of others (Goetz, Keltner, & Simon-Thomas, 2010). With self-compassion, however, one is emotionally supportive toward both the self and others when hardship or human imperfection is confronted.” (Yarnell & Neff, 2012). The courage of compassion: transforming nurses’ and midwives’ working environments to enable them to flourishThursday 3 December 12:00 - 1:00pm