Leadership, TetraMap® and
Compassion
Written By TetraMap MTF Emma Mauger
The TetraMap® of Leadership is an impactful learning model that invites a person to understand their leadership approach. It shows how to achieve balance as a leader. Courage, Wisdom, Compassion and Inspiration are the four different leadership perspectives that clients are encouraged to access – building out their emotional intelligence and widening their leadership repertoire. The model has impact in different leadership development interventions. I apply it in my leadership coaching practice and in group leadership workshops too.
Of the four TetraMap® perspectives, ‘compassion’ is the one that often raises an eyebrow at first glance. The surprise is understandable. Over the decades, the imagery and persona around leadership as a topic has associated it more with qualities of strength, fortitude, achievement and knowledge. With a suited person pictured way out front planting a flag at the summit of a mountain – it’s odd that they’re often alone.
By comparison, is compassion a bit, well, soft? When it comes to leadership, is compassion AS important as these other associations? Are the ideas of servant leadership and compassionate leadership widely accessed? Or are they more associated with charitable organisations, the healthcare sector and faith organisations?
What is compassion?
Compassion is often interchanged with empathy but there’s an important difference. Taking the time to notice someone else’s need and then committing to relating to their situation is what we know to be empathy. It’s when we feel the emotional state of someone else.
Compassion is what happens next. The commitment, and often courage, to take action – to alleviate the need in some way and prioritise those needs over our own.
Modelling compassion
What can we learn from some of the greats – the stars of compassionate leadership? From incredible human beings like Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa or Malala Yousafzai. You may have stars in your family, community and organisation who immediately come to mind. Straight away, through their stories, we might notice that compassion is about human connection and it often involves bravery, resilience and both noticing and prioritising the needs of others over our own.
Compassion lives and breathes around us. The COVID crisis proved this. Acts of kindness, of volunteering and support that eased the difficulties and pain people were experiencing, were visible across communities. Opportunities to act with compassion are always there. They open up whenever it is that we have the resources to help someone who is lacking resources of their own at that point in time.
“I raise up my voice not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard. We cannot succeed when half of us are held back.” ― Malala Yousafzai
Connection to leadership
Leading involves engaging other people in a cause or movement. Through compassionate leadership, we forge and strengthen our relationships with other people, develop crucial bonds of connection and build trust and, yes, ultimately engagement.
Today, people WANT to see compassion from people in leadership roles. In 2022, the University of New South Wales in Australia conducted a survey among 1,078 full time employees in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Two thirds of respondents said that having a compassionate boss “increased their dedication to and satisfaction with their job”.
A starting point
Tuning into our sense of compassion can start with these five simple questions:
- When have I slowed down, paid attention and noticed a colleague’s need and then committed to supporting them?
- What decision am I making right now, who will be impacted and how can people be front and centre of it?
- How am I engaging in programmes that support causes and needs beyond my own?
- How aware am I of the challenges the people around me are facing right now?
- How am I relating to people and supporting their journey to move forwards?
The benefits
The icing on the cake is that practicing compassion is good for us. Feeling compassion towards others and witnessing acts of compassion activates areas of the human brain which are important to how we form attachments and bonds. There is a release of the so called ‘happy hormones’: oxytocin, dopamine and serotonin. Together, this causes a surge of positive emotion and increases our resilience to anxiety.
Developing a culture of compassion can really help to propel inclusion, mental health awareness and productivity. And the good news? Anyone can cultivate compassion in their approach – it’s naturally there to build on.
And the TetraMap of Leadership® is a learning model that is there to support the journey.
TetraMap® on compassion
“A compassionate leader gives each person the freedom to empower from within. A leader is like a lake:
Quenches Thirst: Revives and re-energises
Mirrors: Provides a different perspective
Collects: Includes input from all directions without bias
Magnifies: Makes larger than life”
“TetraMap: develop people and business the way nature intended” by Jon and Yoshimi Brett
In Your Element Podcast
This 9 minute podcast serves as a reminder of why metaphor is powerful, and includes further listening on the TetraMap of Leadership. Enjoy!