Many of you know I always
speak to “kindness is currency”. This week I was pleasantly surprised by
a small action that occurred in my building with some of our employees.
During the week someone had obviously dropped a ten dollar bill in a long
hallway that is well traveled in our workspace. In the middle of the
hallway, taped to the wall, was an envelope with a note attached that basically
said “we found your lost money and if it is yours please take it from inside the
envelope and if it is not….” That little piece of kindness has stuck with
me all week.
It is amazing how little acts
of kindness often can “wipe out” all the stress or tension we feel daily.
I was so impressed, I came back and discussed it with my co workers. It
made my day AND week better knowing we employ great people like this.
The neurosciences and
social science research is clear: kindness changes the brain by the experience
of kindness. Children do not learn kindness by only thinking about it and
talking about it. Kindness is best learned by feeling it so that they can
reproduce it. Kindness is an emotion kids can feel and empathy is a strength
that they can share.
How do we get better with
this currency? Think about what 15 minutes a day could do if you
exercised your kindness and found a way to deliberately be kind and
compassionate toward another person. What if instead of trying to be kind 24/7,
you start off small - like taking the brief run, versus running a marathon. Find
one co-worker, extend a kind word, a nice smile or a helping hand each
day. After three weeks, it will become a habit. A nice habit
at that.
So, an open letter to our
Gannett employee who started all of this. Thank you for your
kindness. It has paid itself forward. Together. We. Win.
Dave Harmon
People Division
“Kindness is Currency”
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/davidharmonhr
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