Kindness: A way to engage employees and combat change?
With all the talk about the top drivers of employee engagement, how to get commitment from your team, and the "quit and stayed" phenomenon, I'm curious to see how a commitment to kindness, compassion, and quality of good work rates on the engagement-meter.
A small non-profit in NYC, Life Vest, has the simple goal to encourage the spreading of happiness through small acts of kindness. Through the relatively simple mechanism of an online video, they have creatively lived their values. Their philosophy is to bring awareness that: "individuals can effect real and positive change in the people around them, simply by 'living kindness'".
This video underscores how these small acts have impact and resonance. In The Leadership Challenge Workshop, we often show videos that help to underscore The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership - in this case, I immediately thought of "Encouraging the Heart" - simply because it made my heart feel good to watch it.
Once I dried the little tear in my eye, I thought that it really was more of an example of Inspiring a Shared Vision - something that helps constituents "Envision the Future by imagining exciting and ennobling possibilities", or by "Enlisting Others in a Common Vision, by appealing to shared aspirations."
When we speak of the "commitments," above, its really important to look at the actual behaviors of what constitutes those commitments. In this case, I really think this video exemplifies painting a "big picture" of group aspirations", and "appealing to others to share a dream of the future", - which is what leaders behaviorally do when they want to enlist buy-in and support, and to show vision and leadership. Please enjoy the video!
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