Kind: The Quiet Power of Kindness at Work

"I thought that it was very important to have a book that focused on organisations included in my list of books about kindness. Graham Allcott previously wrote The Productivity Ninja — he’s really invested in efficiency and effectiveness and helping organisations to operate well. I love the fact that he has now written a book that highlights the role of kindness in organisations. When we reflect on optimising efficiency, it’s easy to diminish how important so-called ‘soft skills’ are for effective working, particularly in teams. Interestingly, Allcott shines a spotlight on what he refers to as: ‘kindfulness’, like mindfulness. Mindfulness is our ability to be vigilant to where our attention has wandered, right? It’s a form of meta-awareness—developing our awareness of our awareness. Similarly, kindfulness is about building our awareness of how kindness is, or isn’t, deployed. It’s an appeal to ensure that we have greater awareness of whether kindness is in play in our interactions in groups and organisations. It’s not a luxury, far from it. Allcott highlights that when kindness is foregrounded, things go better for the individuals within the organisation, and things go better for the organisation. He also debunks some misconceptions about kindness, that it lets people off the hook, or is about going soft etc. People can deliberately reject the importance of kindness in the business world. He has a term for those people: it’s being the ‘business bastard.’ He names some popular, well-known business leaders who are recognised for being less than kind. People can look at their success and think that’s the way we should be, but he highlights that the success of these people is the exemption rather than the rule, and it comes at a cost. In part two, Allcott introduces eight principles that are applicable for organisations. So, there is a lot to take home, both for employees and for leaders in organisations. These principles are pithy and practical. A key point he emphasises is that kindness starts with you. He presents anecdotes from both his own lived experience as a manager and recollections from his time as an employee, whilst also drawing on inspirational stories from other business leaders. Again, there’s a real sense of optimism in his writing; there is hope for organisations that embrace this kindness and kindfulness work."