Why Kindness Counts

Again, today, i found myself shying away from saying ‘kindness counts’, or rather i found myself apologising for saying it. Whenever i use the term, i fear it sounds weak, it sounds like a predictable liberal statement, more about ‘niceness’ than ‘effectiveness’. But nonetheless, i think that it’s true. A Socially Dynamic Organisation is one that is highly effective. It wins by any set of rules. And within it, kindness truly does count.

Not as an afterthought, used to apologise, but with forethought, to guide our actions and, hence, shape the culture.

Kindness counts, not simply when it is easy, but when things are truly hard. It counts because it moderates our actions, and it helps us achieve balance in the things that we do. And it counts because it puts people, and our relationship with them, at the heart of our thinking and action.

I don’t feel i should need to explain why kindness is a good thing, but i can certainly observe when it is missing. In all the noise of the modern world, and in the busyness of our dynamic systems, it’s easy for the one thing to get lost that we can value the most. A culture of kindness.