Kindness is Key to Success in the Workplace

Kindness is a type of behavior marked by acts of generosity, consideration, or concern for others, without expecting praise or reward. In a world filled with struggle and pain, kindness is like a deep cleansing breath that rejuvenates us with its purity, refreshes us with its goodness and hope; and gives us the strength to persevere despite our troubles.

Kindness is a Topic of Interest in Philosophy and Religion

Below are some examples:

1. Kindness was one of the main topics in the Bible.

2. In Book II of “Rhetoric”, Aristotle defines kindness as “helpfulness towards someone in need, not in return for anything, nor for the advantage of the helper himself, but for that of the person helped”.

3. Nietzsche considered kindness and love to be the “most curative herbs and agents in human intercourse”.

4. Kindness is considered to be one of the Knightly Virtues.

5. In Meher Baba’s teachings, God is synonymous with kindness: “God is so kind that it is impossible to imagine His unbounded kindness!”

Kindness Involves Choice

Kindness involves choice because there are many alternatives to kindness that will tempt us through life — including, of course, apathy and anger. Circumstances may test us. People may try us. News may trouble us. Yet, despite these obstacles, we each have the beautiful ability to actively choose to be kind.

Empathy is Key

Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference; that is, the capacity to place oneself in another’s position. On the opposite side of empathy, there is callousness, heartlessness, or cold-heartedness.

We must be aware of the difference between empathy and sympathy. Sympathy involves understanding from your own perspective. Empathy involves putting yourself in the other person’s shoes and understanding WHY they may have these particular feelings.

Empathy is deeper and more sincere than sympathy. It is about acknowledging a person’s feelings and genuinely imagining and trying to feel what it’s like to be in the other person’s shoes.

Empathy is an enormous concept. Renowned psychologists Daniel Goleman and Paul Ekman have identified three components of empathy: Cognitive, Emotional and Compassionate.

Empathy is the ability to relate with someone else’s emotions, therefore, it isn’t a sign of weakness. It just shows that you’ve experienced the emotion that someone else is experiencing. It can help you give advice on how to deal with it, and that’s a strength to your advantage.

Kindness in the Workplace

Kindness has been shown to increase self-esteem, empathy and compassion, and improve mood. It can decrease blood pressure and cortisol, a stress hormone, which directly impacts stress levels. People who give of themselves in a balanced way also tend to be healthier and live longer.

A Harvard Business Review states “Organizations benefit from actively fostering kindness. In workplaces where acts of kindness become the norm, the spillover effects can multiply fast. When people receive an act of kindness, they pay it back, research shows — and not just to the same person, but often to someone entirely new.

This leads to a culture of generosity in an organization.”

In this review, the authors outline more of the research-backed benefits of kindness, share their own research on how giving compliments boosts happiness, and offer practical tips for managers who want to promote kindness on their team.

It has been agreed by many studies that ‘kindness fosters trust’ among associates at any workplace. This benefits any company as with trust as a core feeling in a team environment, more ideas will be shared with less fear involved offering a more exciting and complete team effort to any project. This in turn creates higher success rates for any business.

If you create a truly kind workplace, it follows naturally that your team will also be kind toward your customers. This is important because the power of kindness in customer service interactions cannot be overstated.

It’s no exaggeration to say that kindness has the potential to change any industry. The ability for a work team to offer each other and clients a real caring experience has more benefits than one can imagine.

Finally, the most compelling argument for a kind workplace is that kindness improves the performance of your business.

The Science of Kindness in the Workplace

Before we get into how to spread kindness at your company, let’s talk about the science of kindness. You may be surprised to find that an intangible trait can be measured by science, but studies about kindness date back as far as the 1990s.

These studies reveal that workplace stress is a real and pressing problem. They give organizational leaders specific examples of how to encourage compassion, gratitude, and positivity throughout the day. And they show us just how important it is to wield kindness to reduce stress in the workplace. One way to convert workplace stress to employee happiness is by developing a culture of kindness.

Research suggests employers who understand the impact of work stress and take steps to support their employees’ happiness enjoy several payoffs in the form of higher job satisfaction, loyalty, engagement, and productivity.

Whether at home, in public or at work, it is always healthier to treat others the way you would like to be treated. There’s an old saying “It’s easy to be selfless when there’s something in it for you.” There will always be something returned to those that act our of a sincere kind empathic point of view – Growth! Yes, Self Growth!