Dr. Okochi, founder and director of Okochikai Medical Corporation, helps businesses drive strategic growth. Creator of Daikandou method.
What is compassion? In Japan, “compassion” refers to “family love for others.” Many people love their families dearly. But do you love your employees, co-workers, and clients or patients as you love your family? Moreover, I do not mean ordinary familial love. I mean a familial love involving an unforgettable feeling that stirs your soul from the bottom.
As a doctor, I believe we should practice medicine with the spirit of “soul-stirring compassion.” To me, medical care in the spirit of “soul-stirring compassion” means the one that abandons no one in the world, no matter what happens. It means “medical care that feels people’s hearts” and “medical care that feels people’s warmth,” in which we treat patients as if they were our own precious family members.
Why ‘Family Love’ Matters In The Workplace
Have you seen the statistics about bullying, violence and suicide? According to the National Center for Education Statistics, about 22% of students between 12 and 18 years old reported being bullied at school in 2019. The United Nations reports that 1 in 3 students is bullied or experiences violence at least once a month, and 1 in 10 students is a victim of cyberbullying worldwide. Also, in 2018, the United Nations reported that 800,000 people die by suicide each year. Bullying, violence and suicide are now major societal problems.
Bullying and violence are not simply composed of two layers: “people who bully” and “people who are bullied.” Instead, these events involve four layers. There are the above two, as well as “spectators”—who do not directly harm but watch or encourage the bullying—and “bystanders”—who turn a blind eye and avoid becoming the next target. The person who is in the position of spectator or bystander also has a significant impact on the sustained expansion of violent bullying, rather than being part of a transient event. When the spectators positively affirm the bullying, the bullies may accelerate their bullying even more because the spectators recognize their bullying behavior. In other words, not only the individual but also the surrounding environment can have a significant impact.
It is important that not only individuals but also families, friends, educational institutions, companies and communities work together to create a mindset of compassion to support people who are going through challenges like these and work to prevent them.
It is important to make the workplace a kind and compassionate place where people care about each other, treat each other with love, trust each other like family, and immediately offer a helping hand to those in need.
Medical care is also based on a spirit of compassion. Medical practices should treat patients with love and kindness, valuing them like family members without thinking of them as strangers.
Fostering Compassion And Appreciation In The Workplace
Now, what can you do right away to generate soul-stirring compassion in your workplace?
First, express your gratitude in words to those around you who you take for granted—such as your co-workers and employees—starting today and continuing every day thereafter. Then, treat those people with family love as well. When employees are grateful and happy, they will be able to treat more people around them in need with family love. And they, too, are likely to be happier. Compassion triggers a positive chain reaction in the workplace. Once compassion spreads, people may become more capable of taking care of those around them (such as co-workers and patients), and a wonderful environment without discrimination, prejudice and conflict may be within reach.
Specifically, I do the following things for my employees to directly express my appreciation and compassion for their work. I go to karaoke clubs to learn the staff’s favorite songs and surprise them at celebrations. I make surprise thank-you videos when staff members get married, give birth, or get promotions, and I ask restaurants to prepare a surprise message when dessert is served when our team is dining out to show my appreciation for their hard work.
Let’s work together to start a chain reaction of compassion and appreciation around the world.
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