Dr. Danny Friedland asks the question, “If we want to lead well in the world, how do we lead well inside ourselves?”. This webinar provides a tremendous amount of detail and tactical advice for how to elevate oneself and others from a state of reactivity to appreciation and creativity.

These are the key takeaways from the webinar:

Leaders are called to give and receive compassion.

Danny started the webinar with a powerful statement, “Leadership is not for the faint of heart.” Leadership can be lonely and isolating, and extremely challenging times like the ones we face today will further test this statement. Resiliency is a must have in times like these, and the heart of Resiliency is compassion.

Compassion develops out of mindfulness, kindness, and common humanity.

These three components support compassion for the self as well as compassion for others. Here’s a brief breakdown of each and how the support compassion:

• Mindfulness – Taking the time to notice the present moment and paying attention to our emotions can help stop the cycle of rumination and has the capacity to disentangle the self from the cycle of suffering.
  
  
• Kindness – Demonstrating gentleness and generosity of understanding to oneself and others can limit harsh self-judgement and help reverse a spiral into fear and anxiety.
  
  
• Common Humanity – Understand that whatever suffering you are going through; you are not going through it alone. Especially now. This offsets the sense of isolation that so many of us are feeling right now. Understanding our common humanity and our connection to one another is critically important at this time.

Focusing on possibilities during times of distress, creates opportunities to elevate ourselves and others.

Danny presents evidence-based neuroscience to explain how the brain is capable of high-level conscious leadership as well as retreat into a safety-focused fight or flight response. There is a gap between threat and response, and compassion allows leaders to use that gap to choose to react with an abundance mindset, opening up new possibilities rather than retreating to fear-based safety measures. Danny acknowledges that our safety response in times like these is adaptive and critical, but at the same time, when we go into fight or flight- this can create immense strain on our relationships. Danny asks us to use compassion to create space to ask: “How do we actually elevate ourselves and elevate others to stay focused on what matters most at this time?”

In closing Danny sends us off with a heartfelt wish, “May we take better care of ourselves, of others, and of our communities to elevate ourselves and ultimately fulfill the mission of elevating humanity at large.”