Building Trust and Compassion Using Loving Kindness and the Broaden and Build Theory in Turbulent Times

• In Event: Humility + Compassion = More Impactful Leadership for Turbulent Times

Short Description

This case study examines the relationship between positive and compassionate leaders and their followers during a period of unrest. Findings indicate that as the leader develops empathetic and loving kindness skills, follower-leader trust increases, positively influencing engagement and resilience. The presentation will also consider if compassion can be cultivated through training.

Detailed Abstract

Compassion is a key motivator of altruistic behavior, but little is known about individuals’ capacity to cultivate compassion through training. Compassion may be trained by testing whether (a) short-term compassion training increases altruistic behavior and (b) individual differences in altruism are associated with training-induced changes in neural responses to suffering. Compassion training increased altruistic redistribution of funds to a victim encountered outside of the training. Results suggest that compassion can be cultivated with training and that greater altruistic behavior may emerge from increased engagement of neural systems implicated in understanding the suffering of other people, executive and emotional control, and reward processing. (Weng, Fox, Shackman, Stodola, Caldwell, Olson, Roger, 2013)

Positive emotions arise in response to different opportunities. They momentarily broaden people’s attention and thinking, enabling them to draw on higher-level connections and a wider range of ideas. (Fredrickson, 1998) Subsequently, these emotions broadened an individual’s outlook. This often helps people to discover and build personal resources. “These resources can be cognitive, like the ability to mindfully attend to the present moment; psychological, like the ability to maintain a sense of mastery over environmental challenges; social, like the ability to give and receive emotional support; or physical, like the ability to ward off the common cold” (Fredrickson, 1998). People with these resources are more likely to meet life’s challenges and take advantage of its opportunities. The Broaden-and-Build theory states that positive emotions widen people’s outlooks in ways that reshape who they are. The premise of the Broaden -and-Build theory is that positive emotions play an essential role in an individuals ability to survive. Leaders who build upon positivity using compassion and loving kindness provide such opportunities for the individuals. A social bond is formed.

High quality relationships focus on pivotal themes such as: admiration for others, positive mirroring, support, validation and feelings of safety create a positive work force (Gersick, Bartunek & Dutton, 2000). Positive emotions help individuals to broaden their minds and increase a person’s well-being (Fredrickson,1998). The positive emotions also help people build their personal well-being resources, ranging from physical resources, to intellectual resources, and social resources. (Fredrickson 2009). For a workplace to be productive, it is important that leaders develop high quality relationships with individuals. The link between Duttons’ High quality relationships and Fredrickson’s work on positivity and loving kindness suggest that individuals may flourish at work based on their relationship to their leader. Leaders who build upon positivity using compassion and loving kindness provide such opportunities for individuals.

This case study approach examines the role of a positive and compassionate leaders on followers during a period of unrest. As the leader develops empathetic and loving kindness skills. The followers engage more with the leader and the outcome becomes building a greater capacity for resilience in the follower. It is in the power of the bond that the leader builds with the follower that causes a transformative change in the follower. The change is internalized and causes the follower to become more resilient in response to further turmoil.

Participant

• Dilyss Gallyot, College of DuPage