For many of you who know me, for a few years I have had the
quote “kindness is currency” in my email footer. This is because kindness
is the currency which makes everything better. Recently, I was reminded
about why this topic is so important to me when I came across an article in
Inc. magazine by Steve Farber. He cited a book by Jill Lublin called “The
Profit of Kindness”. I was encouraged and intrigued and am glad to see
kindness getting more press given all the ugliness our recent political events
have stirred up. Life is too short to be angry or negative.
Kindness takes on many forms – acts of kindness, words of
kindness, thoughts of kindness, and BEING kind. I think it also has a new
take on an old rule we all learned in elementary school - the “golden
rule”. Yes, we should try to “do unto others, as you would like them to
do unto you” …but more importantly we should “do unto others as others would
want us to”. Either way the simple message is to be kind – at home, at play
and at work.
At work, if we are
kind, studies show it can generate more customers, quicker feedback, more
resources, better connectivity with your teams, new business prospects, better
brand image, easier forgiveness of your mistakes, improved employee morale,
more fun at work, and even …maybe…this – - we all feel a little better at the
end of the day when we go home.
How we act and react is vitally important. For example, we all make mistakes, no one is
immune to slip ups or errors. So do you want the Boss who asks “who” made
the mistake or the Boss who asks “why” we made the mistake and “how” do we fix
it? One focuses on the person, while the other focuses on the
issue. When you make a mistake at work, how many times do you replay that
over in your mind? Does your Boss focus on replaying the mistake or
moving forward with a process fix? Another example is
flexible work. Does your Boss focus on what time you start and stop or
how much work you get accomplished? Does your Boss focus on where you get
the work done or how much work you get done? We can learn how to be kind AND
how to be focused on the right things. Alert….our Millenial workforce
will not stay for managers who are not kind. They move on and they move
on quickly.
Lublin talks to compassion, flexibility, patience,
positivity, generosity, gratitude and connection. Wow – give me a Boss
with those attributes and I am sold. (thankfully I have a wonderful
Boss). Imagine a workplace where we all focused on these simple seven
attributes. Imagine the culture, the comradery, the productivity.
It seems like a simple recipe for success.
When we, as bosses, treat our employees with kindness, they
treat their peers and customers with kindness. Also, how does your
company “treat” your employees? We are currently embarking on a rewrite
of all our “people” policies. We are writing these with a slant toward
“what you SHOULD do” vs “what you SHOULD NOT do”. A simple twist but it
makes a difference.
Lastly, as noted in the article, how do we GIVE kindness
away? Kindness is not free – it costs time, money, energy. It
requires some sacrifice. And that sacrifice also has a large
payoff. That payoff is karma. Pay it forward.
Dave Harmon
People Division
“Kindness is Currency”
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/davidharmonhr
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