Kindness: Putting Humanity Back in the Workplace
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While there are certainly plenty of atrocities that we can focus on with what’s happening in our present day, one thing that gets me excited is to see how—with more and more fervor—companies are challenging the business-as-usual maxim that perpetuates the idea that humans are merely a part of the system. Instead, we’re seeing a rise of public benefit corporations and purpose-driven businesses. We have examples like Patagonia that prove that focusing on something other than sheer output at all costs has a profound effect on building a loyal customer base. And I believe that stems from a desire to be kind, conscious, and considerate human beings, first.
I’ve shared this story previously, but it bears repeating, one of the first mantras I heard in the workplace in my early 20s was: Business is business, and love is love. This ain’t love.
The idea behind this was to perpetuate a separation between emotions and business. But when we extract the humanity from the realm of business, we are left with vacant vessels and depleted organizations. What we’re seeing is that when we attempt to disassociate who we are (human beings who feel) with what we wish to achieve (increase productivity at all costs), we fall short.
This is why one of my core beliefs is Kindness.
“I believe that if we can access a simple Kindness as a first step, it opens us up to more compassion and empathy for the most complex scenarios we face every day in the workplace.”
Because yes, in business, there is an exchange of labor for payment, and with that exchange come certain expectations. However, thanks to the massive body of work by fellow Texan Brené Brown, we know that shame is not an effective motivator.
Granted, I realize that my perspective is biased. I work with a very small team, and typically my clients are the decision-makers themselves. We can generally get work done pretty seamlessly, which also grants us the flexibility to adjust our arbitrary deadlines, as needed. But regardless of the size of your budget or who your client is, can’t we all seek to build in extra space for human needs? What would be possible if we created a Kindness buffer into our work to allow for rest, breaks, and celebration? What if we redefined success to include wellbeing and impact rather than just profits?
This last question strikes me as particularly poignant, because the capitalist idea of success causes us to be markedly unkind in business. From my vantage point, I see a fundamental friction point because there is this increasing desire to produce and reduce the realm of business to merely productivity and output. When this is met with a burgeoning group of people who are waking up to a higher consciousness and want to bring their whole selves into the work they do, we start to see the glaring gap between typical business goals and what allows us to actually thrive.
This may mean that in order to make room for Kindness in business, that we need to reinvent the way we do business on some level. To evolve our definition of success, and therefore refine our methods for reaching it. And we may find that in incorporating Kindness, it’s easier than we think to reach our newly defined version of success.
To circle back to Brené Brown, we’ve learned that shame is not an effective motivator. But what is? According to Brene on her Unlocking Us podcast (and my own experience), humans are far more motivated by love, understanding, and acceptance. When we demonstrate these qualities with our employees, colleagues, and clients, and when we honor their humanity, what happens in return is an even higher level of productivity—even if it doesn’t happen on the arbitrary timeline we started with.
When we respect the importance of Kindness in our everyday encounters and in each facet of our business, we are acknowledging that we see the other people as people, not as objects that are a means to an end. And when we see people as the beautiful, complex beings that they are, we create more space for creativity to flourish.
As you reflect on your work environment, where might there be space to open up to a little more Kindness?
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Photo credit: Creating Light Studio