Developing Kindness as a Capability Begins with “Core Kindness”

Do you know what we need to do differently to develop this new leadership capability of Kindness? It may start with tackling the misconception that…

Kindness is only how you treat others…

In reality, developing Kindness as a capability begins with YOU and how YOU treat yourself…

Here’s 5 Ways to Develop your “Core Kindness”

✅ 1️⃣ Don't Hide Your Vulnerabilities: Show authenticity and self-awareness by sharing your own challenges and growth areas with your team - asking them to keep you accountable for progress.

✅ 2️⃣ Understand Your Innate Emotional Response to Difficult Situations: Leaders who exhibit frustration can quickly impact the team culture if they are not self-aware. Instead, identify how you can be a stabilizing presence by maintaining composure and reassuring confidence in your team’s abilities.

✅ 3️⃣ Don't Let Your Mentoring & Coaching Approach Become Outdated: Seek out trainings on how to elevate your mentorship and coaching skills so they can adapt to the evolving workforce needs.

✅ 4️⃣ Co-Author Team Language Around “Kindness” in 2025: Meet with your team and co-author a shared development goal that is focused on driving active listening and recognizing small wins. Create common language to respectfully call-out each other when it’s not being demonstrated.

✅ 5️⃣ Measure “Trust” as an Engagement Survey Anchor for Kindness: In 2025, focus on the employee engagement survey language around “trust” to measure if your actions are driving positive impact with your teams year over year.

💡 Remember: Believing that Kindness is only how you treat others is a misconception that leads to inaction. Having the self-awareness to develop your “Core Kindness” will quickly role model to your team that you lead differently and help you stand out in your organization.