I wrote recently about leading with intention and in that post I covered off some of the core leadership qualities that I believe we need as modern leaders.
But as I have reflected on this since, there is another quality - kindness - that I did not include in the list but which is probably a high order principle at the heart of many of the qualities that I did include.
I was reminded of this when I thought about a leader I admire in my organisation. She has a critical business role leading the team that generates much of the revenue and customer base that the business depends on. Make no mistake, she and her team have to deliver. So you can imagine the pressure that probably comes with that.
Yet she remains one of the most approachable, balanced and supportive leaders in the organisation. And when I think about leadership, I often think of something I heard her say when she was being interviewed about her role and leadership style.
She was asked: “What do you think is the most important lesson you have learned in the course of your career?”
I was really keen to hear her answer to this. What would it be: ‘recruit tough and resilient sales people’, ‘prioritise customer experience’, ‘set demanding goals for yourself’?
No. It was none of these.
Her answer was this (paraphrasing somewhat because I can’t remember the exact words): “Be kind. Be kind to everyone you deal with - your team, your colleagues, your clients, your prospective clients - and you will not only reap many benefits, you will be okay with yourself.”
Not only is this a beautiful and powerful concept, its person-centred moral core is consistent with some of the most powerful and enduring philosophies of leadership, going as far back as the Ancient Greeks.
For Plato for example, leadership is intrinsically tied to wisdom and virtue. The leader’s task is to align society with the good, ensuring that people flourish.
Aristotle developed these ideas further to suggest that ethical leadership is built on practical wisdom (phronesis), virtue (arete), and good will (eunoia), all aimed at achieving the final good of a flourishing life and a just society.
More recently, leading with kindness is reflected in:
James MacGregor Burns’ concept of transformational leadership which, rather than than relying on transaction or coercion, seeks to inspire commitment to shared goals and thereby “converts followers into leaders and … leaders into moral agents”;
Robert Greenleaf’s servant leadership theory, where the leader’s legitimacy comes from putting people first, and ensuring that followers leave the experience of work stronger, more capable, and more fulfilled than when they entered it; and
Joanne Ciulla’s Ethics of Leadership which argues that leadership is not just a set of skills or behaviours, but a moral relationship between people based on trust, commitment, emotion, and a shared vision of the good.
Leading with kindness undoubtedly inspires dedication, loyalty and motivation. But if the recent performance of my colleague’s department are anything to go by, it is an approach that can also contribute to real, tangible business results.
It might be a vain hope, but perhaps we would all be better served if more leaders at all levels of society recognised this.
References
Aristotle. (2009). Nicomachean Ethics (W.D. Ross, Trans.). Oxford University Press. (Original work c. 350 BCE).
Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. Harper & Row.
Ciulla, J. B. (2003). The Ethics of Leadership. Wadsworth.
Ciulla, J. B. (2004). Ethics, the Heart of Leadership. Praeger.
Greenleaf, R. K. (1970). The Servant as Leader. The Robert K. Greenleaf Center.
Ferrari, G. R. F. (Ed.). (2000). Plato:’The Republic’. Cambridge University Press. (Original work c. 380 BCE).
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