Outward Bound Lessons to Live a Life of Leadership by Mark Michaux Brown

Author:Mark Michaux Brown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Published: 2019-11-03T16:00:00+00:00

Compassion: Alleviating the Suffering of Others

The capstone of a successful Expeditionary Leader’s journey is deep respect, connection, and caring for self, for others, and for the environment in which we live. The expedition cannot achieve success if individuals do not have compassion for each other.

Compassion comes in two parts. The first is a deep understanding of and sympathy for the challenges and suffering of others. You could call that empathy. That connection is critical for an Expeditionary Leader, but it is only the first step. The second requires action. Expeditionary Leaders take action to alleviate that suffering. Empathy and action together form the true measure of distinction of an Expeditionary Leader. Outward Bound teaches this to its participants and demands it of its leaders—both during an expedition and in their daily lives.

“The fact that it’s experiential is very powerful,” said Laura Kohler, senior vice president of stewardship and sustainability for Kohler Co.

It’s not just reading a book on compassion. It’s practicing compassion in the hardest moments, when you don’t even like the person you have to be compassionate for. And whether you’re talking about an urban immersion in NYC with youth, a three-week course, a semester course, or a professional group, it’s all transferable to your professional life or your personal life.

Expeditionary Leaders understand the responsibility they carry to live in a place of compassion. That is because among the Outward Bound pillars, compassion stands above all. It’s also a by-product of developing Outward Bound’s other core values. Without integrity, a willingness to share and learn together, and respect for each person’s journey, compassion is very difficult to foster.

As a certified personal coactive coach and an Outward Bound leader with more than a thousand days in the field, I have lived in the space of deep compassion and connection. I worked to model and teach compassion as I led the sales and training functions of an auto dealer group and saw a completely unique organization build itself on integrity, kindness, and respect.

For example, new hires at Grappone attend a culture training. This is their introduction to the unique company they have joined, one that emphasizes care of the team member. Profits are a by-product of treating everyone with integrity, kindness, and respect. Many new employees are stunned at the intentionality that is behind the company’s actions. If they have worked at other auto dealer groups, they are often in disbelief. If this can be done in the cut-throat world of auto sales, it can be done anywhere. In an industry where the average turnover among sales departments is above 70 percent, Grappone has had years when the turnover on its sales floors was below 15 percent.

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