Kindness kills, or so it is said when it comes to trying to win an argument. However, kindness is also an essential attribute of effective leadership and can lead to a workplace where employees are much more responsive to the demands of management. The old adage that nice guys finish last is no longer the only accepted paradigm for leadership in the business world.
The concept of leading with kindness has been recently popularized in a 2008 book by professors William F. Baker and Michael O’Malley. Both businessmen and academics, Baker and O'Malley document "how good people consistently get superior results" in management by using kindness in the way that they deal with employees. The response of employees to leaders and business owners who operate with this mind-set appears to be far more positive than the responses of those who are treated poorly by employers. Employees are generally more open to management and business owners and will typically divulge more useful information that can later be used to improve business operations.
One of the primary purposes in leading with kindness is that it can create a work culture that leads to other workers responding to each other in the same way. Employers do have to walk the fine line between leading with kindness and being too "buddy-buddy" with their employees, though. An environment that is too relaxed can lead to underproduction and even a tendency by some employees to take advantage of an employer's kind disposition and leadership style. However, leading with kindness can create an employer-employee bond that allows for a trusting relationship between the two.
Leading with kindness should also spill over into the area of employee evaluations and feedback. Employers who take the time to provide feedback to employees on a job well done or when there are areas of improvement needed can do so in a compassionate fashion. Providing a kind word of correction, for example, can often go further toward improving employee performance than can a harsh rebuke that does nothing but tear down employee confidence and loyalty. Kindness can be used as a tool to constantly reinforce employee self-esteem and the employees' perception of management.
One of the things employers should also be aware of is the extent to which their kindness is genuine. Employees can usually sense the fake sort of kindness that is sometimes used to manipulate and persuade only. Leading with kindness does require a genuinely kind disposition on the part of the employer. This can be engendered and supported by hiring employees with the same type of attitude and approach to life and work. The end result should be a culture of kindness that pervades the entire workplace but only because it stems from a real inward condition and mind-set.
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