# Compassionate Leadership: How to Do Hard Things in a Human Way - Hardcover

by **Rasmus Hougaard** (Author), **Jacqueline Carter** (Author), **Marissa Afton** (With)

**Leadership  
is hard. How can you balance compassion for your people with effectiveness in  
getting the job done?**

A global pandemic, economic  
volatility, natural disasters, civil and political unrest. From New York to  
Barcelona to Hong Kong, it can feel as if the world as we know it is coming  
apart. Through it all, our human spirit is being tested. Now more than ever,  
it's imperative for leaders to demonstrate compassion.

But in  
hard times like these, leaders need to make hard decisions--deliver  
negative feedback, make difficult choices that disappoint people, and in some  
cases lay people off. How do you do the hard things that come with the  
responsibility of leadership while remaining a good human being and bringing  
out the best in others? Most people think we have to make a binary choice  
between being a good human being and being a tough, effective leader. But this  
is a false dichotomy. Being human and doing what needs to be done are not  
mutually exclusive. In truth, doing hard things and making difficult decisions  
is often the most compassionate thing to do.

As founder and  
CEO of Potential Project, Rasmus Hougaard and his longtime coauthor, Jacqueline  
Carter, show in this powerful, practical book, you must always balance caring for  
your people with leadership wisdom and effectiveness. Using data from thousands  
of leaders, employees, and companies in nearly a hundred countries, the authors  
find that when leaders bring the right balance of compassion and wisdom to the  
job, they foster much higher levels of employee engagement, performance,  
loyalty, and well-being in their people.

With rich examples  
from Netflix, IKEA, Unilever, and many other global companies, as well as  
practical tools and advice for leaders and managers at any level,  
_Compassionate Leadership_ is your indispensable guide to  
doing the hard work of leadership in a human way.

### Author Biography

**Rasmus  
Hougaard** is the founder and CEO of leadership development and  
consulting firm Potential Project. He is a sought-after keynote speaker and  
coach of C-suite executives at top global companies. In 2019 he was shortlisted  
for the Thinkers50 Leadership Award, recognizing "thinkers who shed  
powerful and original new light onto this perennial and still vital subject."  
He writes for _Harvard Business Review_,  
_Forbes_, and _Business Insider_ and is the  
coauthor, with Jacqueline Carter, of _The Mind of the Leader: How to  
Lead Yourself, Your People, and Your Organization for Extraordinary  
Results_.

**Jacqueline Carter** is a  
partner and North American Director for Potential Project. She has over twenty  
years of experience helping leaders and organizations manage change and achieve  
results. She is a regular contributor to _Harvard Business Review_,  
_Forbes_, and _Leader to Leader_. She is the  
coauthor, with Rasmus Hougaard, of _The Mind of the  
Leader_.

You can find more about the authors  
at:  
potentialproject.com/rasmus  
twitter.com/rasmustpp?lang=en  
linkedin.com/in/rasmushougaard

**Number of Pages:** 224

**Dimensions:** 1.02 x 9.29 x 6.06 IN

**Illustrated:** Yes

**Publication Date:** January 18, 2022

## Details

- **Price:** 32.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 32.00 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Compassionate Leadership: How to Do Hard Things in a Human Way - Hardcover

---

> Source: [Smart supply deals](https://smartsupplydeals.com/products/compassionate-leadership-how-to-do-hard-things-in-a-human-way-hardcover)
> Updated: 2026-07-21