#kindness #leadership #projectmanagement #emotionalintelligents #empathy #servantleadership
Currently there are simply way to many new stories of suicides and people murdering their entire family, before they kill themselves. Each of these cases has a whole story behind it. A story of frustration and loneliness. And I personally believe it has to do with us leaving kindness behind.
Conscious Effort
If we make a conscious effort to put kindness back into our lives, we can give others hope. Kindness does not solve their problems, but it shows them that you care. It can actually make the difference in their lives that prevents them from going over the edge.
Get me right, I do not expect you to go sort their problems, pay their debts etc. A simple act of kindness can help someone from falling into depression to being happy again and believing in life again.
What can this look like?
In a recent leadership workshop about Servant Leadership I asked one group of participants the following question:
What can you achieve with kindness in project management? Don’t you need to be tough to achieve the project goals, timelines etc
The team remembered that in true servant leadership The head, the hand and the heart work together:
We often want to only blend Head & Hands and think we are leaders. But only if we blend the Heart in for the right mix and care deeply about the people we lead, will we become Servant Leaders.
Imagine a situation, where one of your team members is going through a tough time. Some crisis in their private life, that occupies their brain. Will they be able to fully function like usual? Just give a bit of kindness, and help them through it.
- Give a listening ear – really listen without judgement and keeping confidentiality
- Agree together whether the rest of the team should be told
- Give empathy
- Give them reassurance, that they remain part of the team and that you understand
- Agree together what the team member can really do and what may be tasking them too much in the situation
- Allocate work accordingly
- Keep checking on the team member
The Result
With that you have given the team member the feeling that you care about them. With empathy & a listening ear you have given them the reassurance they need and shown them that you have their back. The fact that you are giving them a chance to decide what work they can comfortably do, without risking their mind being side tracked by the crisis, you also give them the sense of purpose they need.
It doesn’t cost you anything. You will still meet your deadlines if they rest of the team pulls their weight. If you get the team to rally around the person with a crisis, you will actually be pulling them closer together as a team.
The team during the workshop also recognized that kindness can be shown through applied leadership:
- Collaboration
- Create Synergy
- Have a common vision
- Give structure
- Enable the team members / give opportunities
- remove barriers
- recognize skills & achievements & celebrate together
Try it out some time!
What if you are not the Team Leader?
You can still give kindness within the team. Be creative and decide when you need to involve others. But be the one who spreads kindness and has the colleagues back.
The little acts make a big difference in a person’s life.
The greatest gift you can give anyone is the gift of time & presence. By having time for that colleague you will make a difference in their life and you will influence the rest of the team by modelling the way
Let’s spread kindness today!