Originally published April 2020. Updated November 25, 2025.

By Laura Capell-Abra, Founder of Alpha Lupa

Compassion is more than kindness. It is empathy in action (the desire to help others while maintaining care for yourself.)

Compassion in modern work

When workplaces integrate compassion, people feel supported and perform better. 

Compassion is often underestimated as a performance driver, yet research from Harvard and Berkeley shows that compassionate leaders build higher trust, engagement, and innovation. 

When employees feel genuinely cared for, they are more likely to take risks, admit mistakes, and support each other. Compassion creates psychological safety, the foundation for learning and continuous improvement. It’s not softness; it’s strategic humanity.

Managers can start small:

• Ask, not assume.
  
• Listen without needing to fix immediately.
  
• Balance accountability with humanity.
  

Compassionate cultures are not soft; they are strong. They create trust, resilience and sustainable performance.

Using the Lupa Lens: Understand

The Understand phase of the LUPA Method begins with empathy. Great managers consider what their people might be carrying and how they can make space for it while maintaining clarity and focus.

A reflection for 2025

The past few years have normalised conversations about wellbeing and inclusion, but compassion fatigue is real. Managers now need to model sustainable empathy — caring deeply without burning out.

Ready to bring compassion into your leadership culture?

Explore The Inclusion Code and The Sustainable Team, interactive experiences that build empathy, awareness and resilience.