THE IMPORTANCE OF KINDNESS AS A LEADERSHIP TRAIT
Seldom is the attribute of kindness amongst leadership celebrated or extolled in the workplace, but team members highly esteem kind leadership, often only referencing it after the fact with comments like "I once had a boss that was the best- she/he was so kind…”.
Some leaders think that kindness is (or may be viewed as) weakness, and as such, it may be taken advantage of, which might be the case if kindness wasn’t held in tension with other desirable leadership traits, such as ‘consistency’.
It is possible to have a disciplinary conversation with a team member, be firm and unwavering because the team and the broader business need change, but to also maintain an underlying attitude of kindness to the person which may often be part of the ‘magic sauce’ to seeing them shift.
The benefits of kindness far outweigh the cons, remembering that the opposite of kindness are traits like harshness, callousness, or the more covert version of indifference. These latter characteristics may get the job done for a short period, but younger employees these days won’t tolerate this kind management style like previous generations.
Of course, there are times when a leader must be very firm in order to hold people to account for failed performance, but it is possible to be kind in nature, and have a very serious conversation with someone about letting down the team and the business. But don’t use these necessary occasions where firmness is required, as an excuse for never being kind.
Kind words, a kind attitude, and small acts of kindness go a long way to building happy, motivated, and loyal team members. There is a saying that: “People join companies but leave managers” and there is a good reason why no one has ever said at their leaving function how much they valued having a manager that was harsh, critical, and mean-spirited.
Conversely, many managers and team leaders are gratefully acknowledged for the kindness that they have shown to staff, peers, customers and clients during their tenure with a company. Kindness is simply a very desirable human trait which other humans, including your team, relish experiencing first-hand.
