The Compassionate Achiever: How Helping Others Fuels Success

by Christopher L. Kukk

Overview

 A powerful, practical guide for cultivating compassion—the scientifically proven foundation for personal achievement and success at work, at home, and in the community.

For decades, we’ve been told the key to prosperity is to look out for number one. But recent science shows that to achieve durable success, we need to be more than just achievers; we need to be compassionate achievers.

New research in biology, neuroscience, and economics have found that compassion—recognizing a problem or caring about another’s pain and making a commitment to help—not only improves others’ lives; it can transform our own. Based on the most recent studies from a wide range of fields, The Compassionate Achiever reveals the profound benefits of practicing compassion including more constructive relationships, improved intelligence, and increased resiliency. To help us achieve these benefits, Christopher L. Kukk, the founding Director of the Center for Compassion, Creativity and Innovation, shares his unique 4-step program for cultivating compassion.

Kukk makes clear that practicing compassion isn’t about being a martyr or a paragon of virtue; it’s about rejecting rage and indifference and choosing instead to be a thoughtful, caring problem-solver. He identifies the skills every compassionate achiever should master—listening, understanding, connecting, and acting—and outlines how to develop each, with clear explanations, easy-to-implement strategies, actionable exercises, and real-world examples.

With the The Compassionate Achiever everyone wins—we can each achieve success in our own lives and create more productive workplaces, and healthier, less violent communities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062457912
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/11/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	241
File size:	966 KB

About the Author

Christopher L. Kukk, Ph.D., is a professor of political science and social science at Western Connecticut State University; founding director of the Center for Compassion, Creativity and Innovation; and faculty advisor for the University and City of Compassion initiatives. He is also cofounder and CEO of InnovOwl LLC, a research and consulting start-up for solving micro and macro problems through innovative education. He was an international security fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, a counterintelligence agent for the United States Army, and a research associate for Cambridge Energy Research Associates. He lives in Brookfield, Connecticut.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Compassionate People Finish on Top-Together 1

Part 1 Survival of the Kindest

1 The Connection Between Compassion and Success 9

2 LUCA: The Four-Step Program for Cultivating Compassion 23

Part 2 The Four Steps for Cultivating Compassion

3 Listen to Learn 29

Skill 1 Less Is More: Focusing Your Attention 34

Skill 2 Open the Closed and Close the Opened: Asking Great Questions 41

Skill 3 Mind the Gaps: Appreciating Silence 52

4 Understand to Know 65

Skill 1 Flight, Fight, or Freeze: Recognizing Mindset 69

Skill 2 Three Monkeys and a Bonobo: Developing Emotional intelligence 82

Skill 3 Only Connect: Turning Facts into Concepts and Relationships into Networks 95

5 Connect to Capabilities 109

Skill 1 Take No One for Granted: Tapping into the Human Potential Hidden in Plain Sight 111

Skill 2 The Web of Connections: Expanding Your Reach 125

Skill 3 Walk This Way Shifting Your Perspective 130

6 Act to Solve 147

Skill 1 The Courage to Try: Overcoming Fear 150

Skill 2 Testing Your Mettle: Strengthening Responsibility and Resilience 162

Skill 3 Just Sit There: The Power of Nondoing 174

Part 3 The Ripple Effect

7 Conquest of the Common Virtue 185

Conclusion: The Modern Spartacus 191

Acknowledgments 199

Notes 203

Index 229

About the Author 239

Editorial Reviews

01/09/2017
Going for the jugular is a popular technique in the business world—but it’s usually not the best, says professor of political science and social science Kukk in this astute but repetitious guide. A former U.S. Army counterintelligence agent, he is a firm proponent of practicing compassion in all areas of life. We live in a time of unprecedented incivility, and the narrative of success as being diametrically opposed to kindness and ethical behavior is a poisonous one. Having found compassion to be an “underappreciated but consistent” trait of high achievers in many different fields, he urges replacing “survival of the fittest” with “survival of the kindest.” Pointing to examples from the natural world and neuroscience, Kukk argues that people are “hardwired for compassion” for a reason—they accomplish goals more easily, and the achievements are more rewarding, when they take an empathetic approach. He advocates becoming proficient in the LUCA skills: listening, understanding, connecting, and acting. Bolstered with concrete advice and encouragement to nurture emotional intelligence, this is a needed reminder that compassion isn’t a passive characteristic but requires us to actually act to help each other. However, once this premise is accepted, there’s not much content here beyond repeating it, and the result feels slim. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

An inspiration and a treasure. Providing practical ways to nourish compassion, it offers an empowering action plan for success, understanding, and healing. I know it will have a meaningful impact on the teachers with whom I work and the community and nation at large.” — Maya Soetoro-Ng, founder, Ceeds of Peace and Director of Community Outreach and Global Learning, Matsunaga Institute for Peace

“A must-read…Compassion drives kindness and teamwork and leads to problem solving and ultimately, success…. Educators, healthcare workers, grassroots organizers alike need to share these principles. Business people and faith leaders need to mentor these skills-we all do.” — Marilyn Turkovich, Director, Charter for Compassion International

“Compassion benefits the giver and the receiver. Relationships prolong lives and are what we are all here to experience. Love is the only thing of permanence. Read The Compassionate Achiever and learn to be compassionate to yourself, your body, and all life.” — Bernie Siegel, M.D., author of The Art of Healing and A Book of Miracles

“By following his suggestions, we can learn to cultivate compassion and reap the benefits for our productivity, our mental health, and our organizations.” — The Greater Good

“[The Compassionate Achiever] gives us very pragmatic how-to’s for how to live a life that has compassion at its core.” — Emma Seppala, Psychology Today

“Bolstered with concrete advice and encouragement to nurture emotional intelligence, [The Compassionate Achiever] is a needed reminder that compassion isn’t a passive characteristic but requires us to actually act to help each other.” — Publishers Weekly

“Kukk maintains that compassion and a commitment to helping others actually leads to more constructive relationships, improved intelligence, and increased resiliency…. Kukk’s message and steps can provide effective tools to promote more productive workplaces and healthier communities.” — Library Journal

From the Publisher

A must-read…Compassion drives kindness and teamwork and leads to problem solving and ultimately, success…. Educators, healthcare workers, grassroots organizers alike need to share these principles. Business people and faith leaders need to mentor these skills-we all do.

Marilyn Turkovich

Compassion benefits the giver and the receiver. Relationships prolong lives and are what we are all here to experience. Love is the only thing of permanence. Read The Compassionate Achiever and learn to be compassionate to yourself, your body, and all life.

Bernie Siegel

[The Compassionate Achiever] gives us very pragmatic how-to’s for how to live a life that has compassion at its core.

Emma Seppala

By following his suggestions, we can learn to cultivate compassion and reap the benefits for our productivity, our mental health, and our organizations.

The Greater Good

An inspiration and a treasure. Providing practical ways to nourish compassion, it offers an empowering action plan for success, understanding, and healing. I know it will have a meaningful impact on the teachers with whom I work and the community and nation at large.

Maya Soetoro-Ng

By following his suggestions, we can learn to cultivate compassion and reap the benefits for our productivity, our mental health, and our organizations.

Greater Good

05/01/2017
Opposed to the idea that the key to prosperity is to look out for number one, Kukk (political & social science, Western Connecticut State Univ.) maintains that compassion and a commitment to helping others actually leads to more constructive relationships, improved intelligence, and increased resiliency. The author proposes a four-step program to cultivate such qualities: listen to learn; understand to know; connect to capabilities; and act to solve. Within each of these steps, Kukk teaches such skills as believing in win-win solutions, empathizing with other perspectives, and sharing responsibility. VERDICT Kukk's message and steps can provide effective tools to promote more productive workplaces and healthier communities.

Library Journal