In their book, “Leading with Kindness”, William F. Baker, Michael O'Malley assert,. . . ”that being kind is a crucial attribute of some of the world's most successful business leaders, leaders whose success is anchored in their integrity, credibility, vision, insight, inclusion, and fairness. And kindness is not some intangible quality that one either "has" or doesn't, it is a combination of quantifiable, learnable, and refinable traits and skills.”
We submit that providing objective feedback on your people's performance in a timely, accurate manner, is kindness. What could be more fair than establishing upfront agreements on expectations and then letting people know how they are doing? How much fairer or kind could one be than clearly articulating the organization's vision and strategy so that people know toward what they are contributing their efforts? How much more credibility and integrity can we have than sharing the profits of the organization with the people whose labor produced it?
Spending 20 years in the textile/apparel industry exposed us to the antithesis of kindness. For the most part, the leaders of apparel companies in the 1950's and 1960's were tyrannical in their approach to management and leadership. Certainly, not all behaved this way, however, we worked with enough of them to get an overall experience that demonstrated kindness was the exception.
Now, consider this: every season these manufacturers had to design new styles of apparel to offer to the retailers. That essentially meant going out of business and going back into business four times a year. The textile makers had to have new fabrics, new colors, new textures available to support this never ending cycle. The pressure and anxiety this process produced was, (and is), enormous. Who had time for “kindness?”
The above may be an explanation, however, it is not a reason, to be unkind. The shouting, cursing, blustering boss was frustrated by all pervasive “lateness” in the delivery of resources; fabrics, people, truckers, payments, etc. The fear of failure was rampant. He only had a limited window of opportunity to get his apparel into the stores. If missed, the season was lost and so was his investment. The people received the brunt of this frustration and fear. Still only an excuse, not a reason.
Raised in this environment, the lessons stuck, sort of. When we left that industry 30 years ago and built a sizable organization development consultancy, we behaved in a similar manner. Old habits are hard to break. We eventually did break them and our clients and our people were the beneficiaries. . . as were we and our children. Today, the generations of “X, Y and perhaps Z” will not tolerate that type of behavior.
The success of an enterprise is dependent on those who show up every day, whether in person or via telecommuting. Treating people with respect and allowing them to always retain their human dignity is the only way to ensure long term organizational viability. Kindness is a fair price to pay.
-RSL
