Leading with compassion

THROUGHOUT THESE ESSAYS, WE ARE continually pointing to three fundamental forces at play in life as in business: Thought (the process we use to create an original life), Consciousness (the clarity we have about the life we are creating), and Mind (our connectedness to universal intelligence and spiritual energy). While doing so, we've used words not usually heard in a business context: hope, faith, compassion, gratitude, and spirituality.

Leading with race is, for most of us, an acquired capability. Everyone has the capacity to do so, but liberating it is something else. Leaders can get good results simply by relying on their knowledge and experience. There are also "how to" books that teach the techniques of leadership and tell memorable stories. They can come in handy.

But can an organization achieve and sustain greatness by relying on what has already been invented, experienced, or understood? Instinctively, we know the answer is "No!" What sets all great companies apart is something unique. What marks all great leaders who run such companies is their ability to say or do the right thing whenever the moment requires it, to bring out the best in others, and to help people deepen their own capacity to lead.

The passion these companies exhibit is obvious, but its source flows from an unexpected wellspring-love.

Love is the force that releases the spirit's wisdom and rekindles its energy. We're not speaking about romantic passion or parental love but about "agape"-spiritual connectedness-or bringing the "we-ness" of being involved with others to the forefront.

Why love is essential to leadership can be summed up in the saying, "They won't care about what you say until they know how much you care. Love opens the floodgates that hold back the flow of deep feelings, such as faith, hope, and compassion. It liberates us from selfdoubts, self-criticism, self-imposed limits, and isolation.

Among...