It’s often remarked that ‘teamwork makes the dream work’. But I think there is something far more important in high performing teams. In fact, I would go as far saying it’s a ‘superpower’. Kindness.
We all have so much going on in our lives - competing strains and stresses – not to mention the cost-of-living crises, political and economic turmoil which we are reminded of daily. This has sometimes pushed kindness to one side, in favour of what is urgent right now in our lives.
Kindness is not something that should be reserved just for friends and family. It should extend to our colleagues and team members. Why? Because practising kindness leads to positive outcomes – for us, our colleagues, and the business.
It’s a popular perception that successful organisations are places characterised as tough, strong, decisive, and results-driven actions where kindness is seen as weakness. But most of us have experienced moments when a simple act of kindness would have improved our day, helped us believe in ourselves a little more or given us a sense of belonging.
Of course, kindness can mean different things to different people but the true meaning is in how we choose to show it. Some people show it through empathy, kind gestures, compassion, thoughtfulness, or acceptance. For others, kindness is helping someone else succeed by offering them encouragement and support – being there when they need it, listening to them, helping them stay positive, offering advice and expertise.
Kindness really matters in our lives. In a world of seven billion, unique people, who all experience happiness, heartache and hope we can feel as though we are all connected. It is from this place of commonality, only visible through our own empathy, that we empower kindness.
But let’s face it, most of us judge. We judge ourselves, we judge each other, we judge our employer, our colleagues, the government, the economy, the world, and so on. We are always judging something in one form or another. I guess it’s called being human.
We never know what people may be struggling with and what they have been through in their life. There are going to be a number of times when our patience wears thin when someone cuts us off in traffic, criticises our parenting, makes fun of our appearance or forgets to call us back.
Regardless of whether these people were trying to disappoint us on purpose or not, the assumption of positive intent helps to keep us non-judgemental and kind to others. Because a little bit of kindness really can go along way.
When we feel cared for, it generates a sense of support and goodwill which has a profound impact on our levels of motivation and sense of self-worth. In the long term, kindness encourages collaboration, the sharing of ideas and mutual support between team members. The overall impact is an increase in productivity, more creative and even healthier workplaces. And who wouldn’t want to work in that kind of workplace?