Recognizing and understanding the importance of kindness at work, written by the author of How to be a Productivity Ninja.
In the range of leadership skills, kindness is inherently quieter, more personal, harder to see - and yes, less interesting or cinematic than controversial tweets and 'bullying boss' behaviour. But the most successful leaders and organizations recognise that kindness builds empathy, trust and psychological safety, the cornerstones of so many desirable traits and outcomes in many businesses: more creativity; a better quality of decision-making; safer critical thinking; higher levels of staff loyalty, flexibility and retention; a heightened sense of engagement; and higher productivity and profitability.
The central premise of KIND is that if you want to create psychological safety in your organization, then there are no better approaches than to create a culture that encourages mindful kindness - or, as the author calls it, 'kindfulness'. Kindness and empathy act in a sort of loop: acts of kindness inspire more empathy; empathy inspires acts of kindness. This in turn creates more trust between individuals, which ultimately leads to a collective sense of feeling safe to take interpersonal risks. Through this psychological safety, people communicate their riskier and more creative ideas, own their mistakes instead of trying to cover them up, give the feedback that helps people to grow (even when it risks upsetting them), and support each other with a sense of loyalty and reciprocity. By using the language of competency and performance, the author aims to convince the cynics, as well as helping already 'kindful' workers, to articulate the power of kindness and make a strong case for its greater profile in their organizations. The author argues that, far from being a ‘fluffy’ or nebulous idea, kindness and empathy should be seen - and used - as 21st century superpowers.
Part One of the book makes the case for how kindness can support productive and positive work cultures, and draws upon research and data from psychology, neuroscience, management theory, sociology and business research. It also busts three important myths that need to be addressed to engage the more cynical reader (or the reader’s cynical colleagues).
Part Two is centred around the Eight Principles of Kindfulness. Each chapter covers one of the eight principles. These offer practical advice for how to make kindness part of the fabric of your team and organization, and are structured to take the reader on a journey from thinking about themselves and their mindset (“kindness starts with you”), through to thinking about the people around them and then finally organizational culture (“it doesn’t end with you”).
Each chapter includes: an opening quote, original graphics, a 'kindful' hero story, and a range of exercises to ensure practical action is taken by the reader. The end of each chapter includes questions for reflection and a kindness challenge.