{"id":6869,"date":"2018-11-14T13:32:22","date_gmt":"2018-11-14T21:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/?p=6869"},"modified":"2024-04-18T07:26:34","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T14:26:34","slug":"kindness-better-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/kindness-better-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Reasons Kindness Makes You a Better Leader"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>World Kindness <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/world-kindness-day-brings-little-light-dark-world-n935936\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Day<\/a> may have come and gone. However, kindness offers a fantastic return on investment every day of the year, leading to better leadership, more productive teams, and a more fulfilling life at both work and home.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10734 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/shutterstock_218537689.jpg\" alt=\"Smiling professional woman listening attentively in a meeting.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"801\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/shutterstock_218537689.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/shutterstock_218537689-600x401.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/shutterstock_218537689-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/shutterstock_218537689-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/shutterstock_218537689-768x513.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Critics often <a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/boblutz\/2012\/05\/02\/leadership-by-kindness-and-other-dumb-management-fads\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">equate<\/a> kindness in leadership to weakness. But kindness does not necessarily preclude strong leadership. In fact, Harvard Business School <a href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2013\/07\/connect-then-lead\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">research<\/a> indicates that leaders who project compassion and warmth are more effective leaders even before establishing any sort of credibility or competence than those who rule with an iron fist. Furthermore, the connection between great leadership and kindness goes further than interpersonal relationships with employees. Studies also indicate that it can increase employee performance.<\/p>\n<p>Oxford University researchers analyzed hundreds of studies that looked at the link between kindness and happiness. They found <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ox.ac.uk\/news\/2016-10-05-being-kind-others-does-make-you-slightly-happier\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">21 studies<\/a> that explicitly show that being kind makes people happier. Additionally, University of Warwick <a href=\"https:\/\/warwick.ac.uk\/newsandevents\/pressreleases\/new_study_shows\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">research<\/a> indicates that happy people are 12 percent more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/en\/library\/51672\/business\/soft-skills\/course\/enhancing-your-productivity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">productive <\/a>at work than their unhappy counterparts.<\/p>\n<p>So, what exactly does kindness mean in workplace <a href=\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/en\/library\/1905\/business\/leadership\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">leadership<\/a>? It doesn\u2019t mean that you don\u2019t fire people. It also doesn\u2019t mean you don\u2019t make the hard decisions when it comes to the company\u2019s bottom line. And, it doesn\u2019t mean more work, either. All it means is that you\u2019re focusing as much on message delivery and the audience as on the message itself.<\/p>\n<h3>Here are 3 ways that kindness can make you a stronger leader and more successful at work.<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>\n<h4>Showing Appreciation<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Sincerely celebrate and care about the successes of others at work. O.C. Tanner Institute\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inc.com\/todd-nordstrom\/research-says-kindness-can-make-you-a-better-leader-here-are-3-reasons-why.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">research<\/a> found that employees overwhelmingly felt that recognition was the top thing their company or leaders could do to inspire them to elevate their performance. \u00a0Appreciation and recognition beat out promotions, pay raises, training and autonomy.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li>\n<h4>Making Connections<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Kind people are naturally better at networking and making sincere connections, because they genuinely care about other people. <em>Inc. <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.inc.com\/todd-nordstrom\/research-says-kindness-can-make-you-a-better-leader-here-are-3-reasons-why.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">found<\/a> that 72 percent of award-winning projects involve people interacting with other people who are not in their social or work circles. Consequently, they were able to gain and implement perspective from people who may not know anything about the project and may disagree or even dislike their ideas.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li>\n<h4>Offering Constructive Corrections<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Leaders are tasked with letting others know when they\u2019re falling short of expectations. Leaders who show kindness and a genuine desire to help employees do their best end up building better relationships as\u00a0 a result of these corrections. A 10-year Harvard Business Review <a href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2016\/01\/a-10-year-study-reveals-what-great-executives-know-and-do\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">study<\/a> found that the inability to build trust in relationships was the number one thing holding second-rate executives back from advancing further in their careers.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s an endless amount of qualities, training, and information to help become a better leader. However, the moment that sincerely caring about the success of others falls to the wayside is the moment that leaders start to fail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>World Kindness Day may have come and gone. However, kindness offers a fantastic return on investment every day of the year, leading to better leadership, more&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":10734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[4001,120,126],"tags":[849,589,1751,1133,1763,1765,1771,1753,1749,1769,1755,587,1757,1759,111,603,1761,66,85,1767],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v17.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>3 Reasons Kindness Makes You a Better Leader - KnowledgeCity<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn why kindness is key to effective leadership in any organization.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/kindness-better-leader\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"3 Reasons Kindness Makes You a Better Leader - KnowledgeCity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn why kindness is key to effective leadership in any organization.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/kindness-better-leader\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"KnowledgeCity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KnowledgeCity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-14T21:32:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-18T14:26:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/shutterstock_218537689.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"801\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Knowledge_City\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Knowledge_City\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"KnowledgeCity\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"KnowledgeCity\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/kindness-better-leader\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/shutterstock_218537689.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/shutterstock_218537689.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":801},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/kindness-better-leader\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/kindness-better-leader\/\",\"name\":\"3 Reasons Kindness Makes You a Better Leader - KnowledgeCity\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/kindness-better-leader\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-14T21:32:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-18T14:26:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b9b8256f9b75ae1e344f74de240a4edd\"},\"description\":\"Learn why kindness is key to effective leadership in any organization.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/kindness-better-leader\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/kindness-better-leader\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"item\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\",\"name\":\"KnowledgeCity\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"item\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Blog\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"3 Reasons Kindness Makes You a Better Leader\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b9b8256f9b75ae1e344f74de240a4edd\",\"name\":\"KnowledgeCity\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/user-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/user-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"KnowledgeCity\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/knowledgecity.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/author\/raynie\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"3 Reasons Kindness Makes You a Better Leader - KnowledgeCity","description":"Learn why kindness is key to effective leadership in any organization.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/kindness-better-leader\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"3 Reasons Kindness Makes You a Better Leader - KnowledgeCity","og_description":"Learn why kindness is key to effective leadership in any organization.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/kindness-better-leader\/","og_site_name":"KnowledgeCity","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KnowledgeCity\/","article_published_time":"2018-11-14T21:32:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-04-18T14:26:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":801,"url":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/shutterstock_218537689.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Knowledge_City","twitter_site":"@Knowledge_City","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"KnowledgeCity","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/","name":"KnowledgeCity","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/kindness-better-leader\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/shutterstock_218537689.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/shutterstock_218537689.jpg","width":1200,"height":801},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/kindness-better-leader\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/kindness-better-leader\/","name":"3 Reasons Kindness Makes You a Better Leader - KnowledgeCity","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/kindness-better-leader\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2018-11-14T21:32:22+00:00","dateModified":"2024-04-18T14:26:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b9b8256f9b75ae1e344f74de240a4edd"},"description":"Learn why kindness is key to effective leadership in any organization.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/kindness-better-leader\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/kindness-better-leader\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com","name":"KnowledgeCity"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/","name":"Blog"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"3 Reasons Kindness Makes You a Better Leader"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b9b8256f9b75ae1e344f74de240a4edd","name":"KnowledgeCity","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/user-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/user-96x96.png","caption":"KnowledgeCity"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/knowledgecity.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/author\/raynie\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6869"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6869"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23092,"href":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6869\/revisions\/23092"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knowledgecity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}