Karen Armstrong is an author, religious historian and former nun who observes that world religions are not helping us realize our shared humanity.  She also observes that the one thing all religions have in common is the Golden Rule: do to others what you would like to be done to you. Karen Armstrong’s TED talk earned her the TED prize, and her wish was to have the Golden Rule implemented around the world. Leaders pulled together to create the Charter for Compassion (a mutually agreed upon expression of the Golden Rule), which launched in November of 2009.

Today I learned that Karen Armstrong will be attending our April 24th event: Compassionate Seattle; It’s Up to Us! It is a huge honor, and one we have earned by being the first city in the world to affirm her Charter for Compassion. We won’t stop there; she has inspired us to implement a 10-year compassionate cities campaign. Many other cities are following Seattle’s footsteps, some in our state, and some as far away and tumultuous as Lahore, Pakistan.

I first learned about Karen Armstrong from TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design – ideas worth spreading.) Every time I listen to a TED talk, I feel grateful, hopeful and smarter. I feel grateful because there are extremely talented and creative people sharing their insights with us; I feel hopeful because most of them are turning their brilliance into something that benefits the world which reinforces the notion that people are basically good; and I feel smarter and more confident because if they can do it, the rest of us who are made up of the same basic ingredients, can also rise to such brilliance, especially when we are inspired by people like Karen.

In her talk, she said, “When people implement the Golden Rule all day every day, you de-throne yourself from the center of your world, put another there & you transcend yourself.” I love the notion of de-throning the self, particularly in our Western culture where leading with ego is an acceptable norm. Since leaving Microsoft eight years ago and reading Eckart Tolle’s book A New Earth, I’m very mindful of my ego and try to lasso her before she causes harm to myself or others. Leading with ego might seem necessary for survival in some work environments, but I personally think those models are outdated.

In today’s human reality, a true, authentic leader is juiced by something far more sustainable and fun to be around than the predictable, likely insecure and wounded ego. Call it spirit, call it heart, your higher self, creator, whatever works for you. It has many names, but to me, real leadership comes from being de-throned every now and again. Real leadership comes from putting the  other first and empowering them to be part of co-creating the solutions. You can see it in the humble, yet powerful leadership style of Karen Armstrong who says she will devote the rest of her life to this mission, but she isn’t trying to do it alone. She found partners to co-create the charter with her and she involved religious leaders from across all beliefs in the solution. That is leadership. That is brilliance that will change the world. There is no room for the ego in her modern incarnation of the Golden Rule.  I hope you will also sign up to support the Charter for Compassion. It’s a wish worth granting to our world.