Can kindness really help?

Susie Hills | Joint CEO of Halpin | The home of experts in higher education.

Things are tough. We have to do more with less. We have to deal with constant change and uncertainty. We want to have positive impact, but things are harder than ever.

In times like this, can kindness really help?

Well – not only can it help but it might also be one of the few ways to build the type of team that has positive impact, that can deliver more with less and that can handle change and uncertainty with resilience.

Why?

Kind leaders empower, support, delegate and give feedback. They are honest and open; they share their vision, set the scene and empower their teams to deliver. Leaders who demonstrate kindness have a higher impact than those who don’t.

Kindness helps organisations to thrive. Kindness is built into our DNA; it’s what helped us to thrive as a species and build complex societies. Kindness frees us from self-involvement and lets us feel part of something larger. If we are connected in this way we work harder, we stay healthier and we take care of those around us.

Kindness creates a safe and trusting environment where employees can relax and perform. This invokes the brain’s higher capacity for social engagement, innovation, creativity, and ambition. Kindness helps us find innovative solutions to the problems we face. Kind teams are by nature more inclusive. Kindness appears in all faiths and all languages. A kind workplace will embrace diversity and include all.

Kindness gives oxygen to teamwork. Kind teams trust each other, they play people to their strengths, they share information freely, they are able to challenge, change, make things happen. They focus on the positive impact of their work and feel good about it. They are able to do more with less because they pull together and care about each other.

308: Leading with kindness is a working session at the AUA Annual Conference and Exhibition 2020. In these mini blogs, our session speakers talk about the journey that lead to this point. Read the full Conference programme here.