Today’s Guest:

Today we’re talking to Christopher Kukk, who is a Professor of Political Science and Social Science at Western Connecticut State University, the Founding Director for the Centre for Compassion, Creativity and Innovation, the author of the Compassionate Achiever, and the co-host of the Compassionate Achiever Podcast. Chris’ research and publications combine neuroscience with the social sciences and focus on education issues, the political economy of natural resources, and the creation and sustainability of civil society. Chris was also a counterintelligence agent for the United States Army, and is regularly featured in the media for his analysis on a wide range of topics and issues.

Today Chris explains the neurological differences between empathy and compassion and why compassion may be the key to success in workplaces.  He also shares his simple four step approach to creating more compassion and ways this can be practically be applied in workplaces.

Connect with Chris Kukk:

Website: http://chriskukk.com/

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You’ll Learn:

• [02:16] – Chris explains the neurological differences between empathy and compassion.
• [05:51] – Chris discusses the complications of empathy and why it can lead to burn out.
• [07:09] – Chris talks about how compassion leads to success personally and professionally.
• [11:10] – Chris gives an example to show how kindness is a precursor to compassion and how this can help us to be more effective givers.
• [12:42] – Chris outlines the four steps for cultivating compassion (LUCA) – ‘listen to learn’, ‘understanding to know’, ‘connect to capabilities’ and ‘act to solve’.
• [19:19] – Chris explains how to teach these skills in workplaces.
• [25:10] – Lightning round with Chris Kukk.

Your Resources:

• The Compassionate Achiever – Chris Kukk
• Give & Take – Adam Grant
• Behave – Sapolsky
• Dark Matter – Blake Crouch

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

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Until next time, take care!  Thank you Chris!