The Compassionate Achiever by Christopher L. Kukk - TLC Book Tour

 

About The Compassionate Achiever

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne (March 7, 2017)

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.

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About Christopher L. Kukk

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.
Find out more about Dr. Kukk at his website, and connect with him on Twitter.

“Compassion grows when we talk less and listen more.”

Talk about a wake up call.  When I began reading the book I was worried that I wouldn't find it interesting.  I'll be honest, I'm not much of a fan of non fiction books, self help etc.  I find them boring, I find the material dry and I lose interest pretty fast.

But that one sentence above stopped me dead in my tracks.  Funny enough I was watching an episode of Dr Phil where he told one of his guests, that if you immediately reply to someone, or cut them off while they're speaking, then you weren't listening at all, you weren't even trying to understand what they were saying because you were too busy formulating a response to them.

GUILTY!!!!

Not of doing it all the time, but there have certainly been many instances where I acted this exact way.

The Compassionate Achiever goes right to the core of the issue, it provides practical ways in which we can learn to be compassionate even when we're not in a compassionate state of mind.  The author calls it "taking a WIRL (walk, imagine, read and listen).”   Boy did that smack me right in the face. 

I couldn't put the book down because I realized that I learned so much about the way I interact with family and friends, what I'm doing right, what I'm doing wrong, and what I can learn to do better.  Life would be so much easier if we all became more compassionate towards others, and to do that we have to reach inside ourselves and start with US.

What a wonderful concept.  I can't wait to implement some of these ideas into my own life and see how it changes everything around me :)

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for providing me with a review copy.