Kindness is one of my core values and that means it permeates my whole life, including my business. For me, kindness is a strength, so why not make it part of my business strategy? It is possible to be kind, strong, passionate and focused. You can be focused on what you want to accomplish with your business strategy and still be kind to other people. You can be authentic and direct, and still be kind in the way that you show up and treat other people.
Incorporating kindness into your business strategy
“why don’t you make kindness your business strategy?” – Gary Vaynerchuk (GARYVEE)
It all starts with you
As a coach for women in business, I spend a lot of time encouraging people to be kind. I know you aren’t going to be surprised when I say that kindness has to start with you. As a business owner, it can be lonely and it is easy to feel overwhelmed and burnt out. I was attending a networking event run by Drive the Network. We had listened to the speaker and it came to the discussion. During the discussion, someone asked, “When did you last take a holiday?” – I couldn’t answer it. Neither could at least half the people in the room. Consider that question for a moment.
Create opportunities in your strategy to incorporate self-care and practice kindness to yourself. You might:
- Create some boundaries about when you work
- Book a half day off a week to do something to refill your cup
- Give yourself a break – mentally be kind to yourself
- Celebrate your successes
What does kindness in your business look like?
Think about kindness as a business strategy. Word of mouth is the holy grail of how businesses get more business. How can you increase the positive referrals that you get? I believe that kindness and generosity are instrumental in this approach. I would like you to take a moment and think about a company who has done something unexpected, kind or generous to you. What effect did that have? I imagine it made you want to tell people, no? Perhaps it made you a loyal follower?
The Return On Investment of taking a little of the spotlight away from sheer efficiency and giving more attention to kindness as a value and a business practice means that you touch your customers’ happy feelings, their happy memories of warm, close connection, and they relax and trust you. If they haven’t experienced this at other businesses then it becomes easy for them to choose you over your competition because this quality stands out and you make them feel good.
Reflection: How can you show up in your work and really be good to people and make a difference?