Inspired People. Outstanding Results.

How to Find Time to Do “Great Work”It’s the work we love to talk about

Doing what’sright Dr. Craig

Dowden reveals the business case for moral leadership

S P E C I A L L E A D E R S H I P E D I T I O N

PLUS• Case studies for leading in difficult times• Looming labour shortage plays havoc on staffing• Invite yin energy for more balance at work

VOLUME 15 ISSUE 4 WWW.YOURWORKPLACE.CA

FEATURES

9 The Business Case for Moral Leadership Doing what is right breeds success

12 Leading in Difficult TimesLessons learned from an eco-challenge and an Olympic soccer team

17 Your Workplace Conference 2013Highlights of a leading-edge event

20 SuchnessThe best leaders see things as they are

22 How to Find Time to Do “Great Work” It has meaning and impact. It’s the work we love to talk about.

25 Balance: Inviting Yin Energy into Our Work

27 A Tale of Two CitiesTwo mayors. Two disasters. Different results.

29 Applying Positive Psychology at WorkEmbracing the pillars of PERMA

ON THE COVER: This Special Edition of Your Workplace explores the latest trends in leadership

DEPARTMENTS4 UP FRONT

8 THE COMPASSIONATE EDGE Power Versus Productivity: Why You Can’t Always Have Both

36 THE BUSINESS-MINDED READER Since we’re all in the lifeboat together...

38 WHAT I THINKYou Might be Right, but You’re Wrong

5 WHAT MATTERSLooming Labour Shortage Plays Havoc on Staffing; The Scandalous “Reply-All”; Successful Outsourcing Calls for Investment in Skills

31 Flex TimeIt’s Time for the Workplace to Grow Up!

34 Self CompassionAn Essential Leadership Trait

CONTENTS

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20 27

22

Inspired People. Outstanding Results.

How to Find Time to Do “Great Work”It’s the work we love to talk about

Doing what’sright Dr. Craig

Dowden reveals the business case for moral leadership

S P E C I A L L E A D E R S H I P E D I T I O N

PLUS• Case studies for leading in difficult times• Looming labour shortage plays havoc on staffing• Invite yin energy for more balance at work

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R P

HO

TO:

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WIL

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YOUR WORKPLACE | VOLUME 15 ISSUE 4 LEADERSHIP      3

xercising effective leadership is a worthy and challenging endeavour. Not surprisingly, there are numerous obstacles and setbacks faced along the way. Although resilience is undoubtedly important, it is likely not enough. Practising self-compassion

or personal forgiveness is a necessary adaptive strategy, and it may be a critical contributor to achieving our leadership potential.

ness of different reactions to failure situations. In some cases, participants were primed to think about a recent setback in a way that enhanced their self-esteem (e.g., to look at the situation in ways that focused on their posi-tive qualities). In other cases, participants were distracted from focusing on their setback in a positive manner (e.g., to think about positive memories from the past). Lastly, a group of participants was instructed to view their failure in a way that encouraged self-compassion. This involved exercising some personal forgiveness and understanding, and recognizing that these types of challenges are human and are not a reflection of their character or their potential as human beings.

Interestingly, those who took a self-compassionate approach experienced more benefits than those who did not. Specifically, the people who were self-compassionate were significantly more likely to view their failures as

Self Compassion An essential leadership trait» B Y C R A I G D O W D E N , P h D

ECountless articles and books have been written on the topic of leadership. Not surprisingly, much of the discus-sion focuses on the traits, behaviours and models of effective leaders ultimately to reveal the “secrets” of bet-ter leadership.

When talking about setbacks, most of the attention centres on team members, with the prevailing wisdom suggesting that leaders should be open and supportive of their direct reports when errors occur. And when leaders face obstacles, the importance of perseverance and main-taining a positive attitude are offered as sage advice.

Unfortunately, an overriding emphasis on perseverance may mask the equally important, yet often overlooked leadership competency of practising self-compassion. In the 2012 study, Self-Compassion Increases Self-Improvement Motivation, conducted at the University of California, Berkeley, researchers explored the effective-

34      LEADERSHIP VOLUME 15 ISSUE 4 | YOUR WORKPLACE

changeable. Indeed, it motivated them to want to address these areas of challenge and work harder to improve their performance in the future.

This finding was consistent with another separate study conducted by the Berkeley team in which partici-pants were given the opportunity to take a test a second time, which they had initially failed. When faced with this

failure situation, people who were primed to be self-com-passionate studied much longer (approximately 25%), which translated into significantly higher test scores than those who focused on maintaining or enhancing their self-esteem.

So why is self-compassion such a powerful cop-ing mechanism for these situations? Self-compassion

does not mean abdicating responsibility or lowering our expectations of ourselves. On the contrary, exercising personal forgiveness is to acknowledge our shortcomings as human beings. Equally important is recognizing that the existence of these challenges breathes life into the possibility of achieving excellence and success. It reinforces that these performance blips are temporary, not permanent, which can drive us to push ourselves to our higher limits. It is a more balanced view of our capabilities and a recognition that these can change across time and circumstance.

Focusing solely on self-esteem may actually be problematic when it comes to improving our performance. Focusing only on the positive and ignoring the potential causes of our setbacks also makes personal learning exceptionally difficult. The first step to change is personal acceptance that there is a problem. Acknowledging the problem better positions us to learn from any setbacks. But constantly exercising self-compassion may be the key to our leadership success and the best way to realize our highest potential. YW

Craig Dowden, PhD, is the Managing Director of the Toronto office of SPB, the largest Canadian-based organizational psychology consulting firm. SPB assists clients in developing and engaging their talent. SPB staff conduct psychometric assessment/360 feedbacks and offer coaching and training in organizational effectiveness.

“…the more we see how hard it is to understand good leadership, the more we begin to appreciate its importance.”

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