E06: Leading with Kindness: How Self-Compassion Enhances Leadership

Dr. Kortni (00:00)
Welcome to the Compassionate Newsroom podcast. I'm Dr. Courtney Alston-Lemon. I'm a former television reporter and news director turned happiness scholar. I train news leaders and journalists internationally to foster workplace well-being, resilience, and a positive culture in their newsrooms.

Every week I'll bring you evidence-based strategies and inspiring interviews from news leaders, journalists, and experts worldwide who prioritize the mental health of their teams and themselves. Let's redefine what it means to lead with compassion in journalism, one episode at a time.

Dr. Kortni (00:39)
Welcome to the Compassionate Newsroom. I'm your host, Dr. Courtney. Well, today we're going to dive deep into the transformative aspect of leadership, which is self-compassion. Our discussion is inspired by an insightful article, which is titled, Self-Compassion Will Make You a Better Leader, by Rich Fernandez and Steph Stern. It's featured in the leadership section of the Harvard Business Review. I will

post that article, in the show notes. Well, it got me thinking because this Thanksgiving, this past Thanksgiving, I watched the movie Wicked.

a story that has resonated with me. Now, I will admit, I've experienced this musical live in London and in Atlanta, but the movie, it brought back a flood of emotions. It was so moving to see the challenges faced by Elphaba, the Wicked Witch. I mean, her story of facing bias because of her

green skin, and her resilience in overcoming these challenges, it really struck a chord.

emotionally exhausting. And it reminded me of why self-compassion is so crucial, especially when you're going through hardships, but it's also very important as relates to leadership. So self-compassion, you know, it's not some soft or lenient thing or a nice thing to do.

It is really imperative. It's about being kind to yourself, recognizing the common humanity in our experiences and maintaining mindfulness in face of challenges. It's about treating yourself with the same kindness and understanding that you would offer a friend or a colleague as facing a setback. I often like to say, it's like treating myself like my own bestie. And...

a woman, a scholar that I greatly admire, Dr. Christian Niff, who's actually a leading researcher on this subject. She outlines three core components of self-compassion. One being self-kindness, recognizing our shared human experience, and mindfulness. See, these elements help leaders maintain emotional balance and resilience, kind of really paving the way to clearer decision-making.

and really effective leadership. But how does self-compassion make you a better leader? Well, research shows that leaders who practice self-compassion have a higher level of emotional intelligence. They're better at staying calm, under pressure, and they tend to approach challenges with optimism and happiness. I actually recently shared this with

a former student of mine and actually a current student of mine, quite a few people. And one of things I shared, said how self-compassion is so important for leaders. I said, when you think about it, right? I said, I'm able to treat you with compassion because I treat myself with compassion, right? It goes back to starting with you.

And self-compassion, it fosters resilience. It enables us as leaders to face setbacks head on and learn from them and move forward without being overly critical or harsh on ourselves. Now, this isn't just about quote, feeling better, right? It's about building a foundation. It's about building a foundation that supports sustainable leadership. So.

How can you start incorporating self-compassion in your leadership style? I hope you're probably asking that question. Well, here are a few practices that you may find helpful. One is in the moment practice. Try taking three deep breaths when you feel overwhelmed. So with each breath, think mindfulness. This is tough, but I am aware of my feelings.

I'm not alone. I'm not alone in this. Other leaders face similar challenges and self-kindness.

May I be kind to myself at this moment? I often ask myself, what do I need? What do I need right at this moment? How can I support myself at this moment? Another element that they share is daily meditation. So spending a few moments each day on self-compassion meditation can really help rewire your brain.

and making kindness more of a natural response during tough times. Dr. Christian Neff has incredible, incredible meditations on her website. I will share them in the show notes and they walk you through in regards to how to begin to be present, how to really focus in on being kind to yourself and also

Be a good friend to you, right? And so her work in this area, guys, is so transformative, so transformative. And another happens to be, I mean, as journalists, we understand the value of this, but writing. So write a letter to yourself from a compassionate mentor's perspective, right? So what would your compassionate mentor say to you?

What would they say to you about your current challenges? How would they encourage you? Right. It helps with that voice that may be, especially when you are thinking about being the best or doing your best, but there's times as I told a student today, you know, it's okay to make mistakes. I told that student.

I make mistakes all the time. I'll make some mistakes today. The value and the beauty is how I communicate to myself. And because I communicate to myself on a level of self-compassion, right, I'm able to be compassionate to her. And that can speak as relates to your teams. As I remember like working with my teams in a newsroom, but even my team working at a university.

I always think about how to be compassionate to them. And then also how it starts with me. It starts with how I talk to myself and then in turn how I talk to them. So self-compassion really is an incredible, an incredible tool that is always here to be that voice.

that kind voice that we all need to hear no matter what. So leaders who are compassionate towards themselves, you know, more likely to act with compassion towards their teams. They build trust. They also build psychological safety, which leads to higher engagement and better performance. Now, as we continue to kind of navigate through

uncertain times, remember that the journey to being a compassionate leader starts with how you treat yourself. Self-compassion is not just a personal practice. It's a leadership strategy too. the way you connect with your team and lead your

So remember this, it's about being transformative. And when you are practicing levels of self-compassion, you're truly able to serve yourself and in turn can really serve your team. Thank you so much for tuning into the Compassionate Newsroom. Remember, the strength of your leadership is reflected in the compassion you show to yourself.

and others. Stay tuned for the next episode. Until then, lead with kindness.

Dr. Kortni (09:26)
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