The Compassionate Achiever: How Helping Others Fuels Success

(Hardback)

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

For decades, weve 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 compassionrecognizing a problem or caring about anothers pain and making a commitment to helpnot 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 isnt about being a martyr or a paragon of virtue; its about rejecting rage and indifference and choosing instead to be a thoughtful, caring problem-solver. He identifies the skills every compassionate achiever should masterlistening, understanding, connecting, and actingand outlines how to develop each, with clear explanations, easy-to-implement strategies, actionable exercises, and real-world examples.

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

Reviews

"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 "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 "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 "[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

Author Bio

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.