Helping Yourself to Help Others: Using Compassion to Improve Societal Outcomes
- May 5
- 3 min read
“Compassion can not only transform our relationship with work-life balance, but also improve outcomes for people who rely on public and social services, many of whom come from vulnerable and marginalised communities.”
— Heather Abbey
This conversation is part of the YCompassion Leadership Programme Reflective Series, featuring reflections from programme participants and peers on practicing compassionate, human-centred leadership in the social impact sector.
What drew you to explore compassion practices?
After working as a civil servant for seven years and taking on a role I was emotionally invested in, but which had very poor boundaries, I eventually burnt out.
Since then, I have been learning the importance of compassion, and it has been incredibly powerful in helping me establish a healthier work-life balance.
My exploration of compassion also led me to research well-being management issues in the public and social sectors - specifically, how a lack of self-compassion hinders one's ability to be compassionate towards others, and how compassionate leadership approaches can improve support for service users, many of whom come from vulnerable and marginalised communities.
From your perspective, why is compassion vital for the future of our sector?
Our sector relies on people who care deeply. While this care is a key strength, when overused, it can also become a vulnerability, and so many of us working in social impact or international development have experienced both personal and collective burnout.
Compassion is an antidote to burnout and moral injury at an individual level, and to high turnover and long-term absence at a team level.
When people feel supported rather than depleted, they perform better and stay longer. A well-being-focused and compassionate organisational culture enhances resilience and sustainability, lowering staff turnover, burnout-related absences, and long-term sick leave.
Ultimately, organisational improvements like these result in more consistent, humane support for the communities that depend on the sector’s services.
The potential of compassionate practice to help individuals, teams, and organisations across the third sector gives me hope.
What ideas are you interested in exploring that bring compassionate ways of working into practice?
Open, honest conversations about how leaders approach challenges with compassion - and the contexts, norms, and limiting beliefs that can make this difficult - are essential.
Through the YCompassion Leadership Programme, I learned how to create safe spaces to navigate moral dilemmas and support others in building confidence and skills to make compassionate choices aligned with their values. For example, I recently facilitated a round-table with UK civil servants to discuss the realities of working in challenging environments, safeguarding wellbeing under pressure, balancing motivation and performance, and extending compassion towards oneself and one's team.
It felt like the first of many initiatives that I hope will nurture more meaningful discussions about embedding compassionate practices within our work and personal lives.
About Heather
Heather Abbey is the Founder of Ase Creative Solutions, a consultancy that supports changemakers, funders, and public institutions in aligning values with delivery and driving ambitious social change.
With over a decade of experience across government, philanthropy, and criminal justice reform, Heather also brings extensive expertise in race equity and trauma-informed, participatory approaches to systems change. Her work examines how compassionate leadership, reflective practice, and sustainable wellbeing are essential for achieving lasting impact for marginalised communities.
Heather was in the second cohort of the YCompassion Leadership Programme.
This conversation reflects Heather's personal views and not those of any organisation she has worked for or currently works for.
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