Honoring Others: The Power of Compassion

We often try to extract the human element out of business and view our team members, employees, contractors, or vendors as hired help. From a mechanistic worldview, each person is simply another part of a big machine.

Why should I need to be nice, considerate, gracious, or supportive to these people? After all, they are paid to do a job so that’s what I need them to do!

Yes, employees and contractors are being financially compensated for the work they are hired to do, but there’s a good reason to offer positive recognition and honor your team members as human beings. You’ll find that graciousness raises the quality and standard of people’s work. People will do more and better quality work when they feel they are being respected and appreciated—when they know they matter.

There’s another benefit to honoring humans as humans: Your work and interaction with others becomes more positive and uplifting. A positive work environment raises the entire field—everyone benefits. A destructive work environment where people are viewed as automatons produces lackluster results (and isn’t much fun either).

Honoring others is an inner choice available to each of us in every moment. We may slip up from time to time, get self-involved, and forget how our moods and attitudes affect others. That’s okay. We’re human. Once we notice our negative mental state, we can take a deep breath, go for a quick walk, cool off, and readjust. Compassion for others requires compassion for ourselves.

Judgment is a double-edged sword. When you judge another, you end up striking yourself. Judgment is the ego’s default position. It’s easy to be judgmental and critical of others. Compassion takes willingness, effort, and training.

Compassion in the workplace, where each person honors each other, helps breed trust and lays the foundation for effective team building and open communication.

When you’re having trouble being compassionate toward a co-worker try this: Look at him and silently acknowledge that he has a difficult life (like the rest of us), filled with challenges at home and work. Realize that, yes, this person has defects in his personality (like the rest of us), but he is doing the best he can. Socrates noted over 2,300 years ago that man can only do what he perceives to be the Good.

Compassion and judgment are opposites. At all times, you are feeding one or the other. One destroys communication and creates a negative work environment; the other leads to trusting, empowered relationships. Which will you choose?

Related posts:

1. The First Stop Toward Building an Effective Team
2. The Five Archetypes of a Destructive Team
3. Five Habits of Highly Effective Team Leaders
4. The Greatest Secret to Effective Communication
5. Dealing with Difficult People