It’s Day 2 of our week-long celebration of the one year anniversary of the publication of The Kind Leader: A Practical Guide to Eliminating Fear, Creating Trust and Leading with Kindness!
Here’s your Day 2 KLT - Kind Leader Tip:
LISTEN! With open eyes, open ears, open mind and an open heart!
Kindness starts within you with empathy and compassion! That means you, as a leader, need to “put yourself in someone else’s shoes” and see, hear and understand things from their perspective…not yours! You can do that by going to where they are doing the work and giving their work a try by yourself (even if you think you know how to do it, I bet you’ll find it’s more challenging than you think)!
Once you’ve opened your eyes and ears, and seen and heard someone else’s perspective, please remember to open your mind and heart. That’s what compassion is all about: seeing and feeling that someone is suffering and wanting to do something to make it better. As a leader, when you open your eyes and ears, often you’ll likely see and hear things you don’t like, don’t agree with and don’t believe in. It’s difficult!
Good thing is though, empathy and compassion, the “building blocks of kindness” are skills you can practice! And the more you practice them, the easier they will become!
I’d love to hear and see how LISTENING has helped you lead with kindness! Please share in the comments!
If you don't have your copy of The Kind Leader yet, now is a great time to order! The publisher is having a 20% off Back-to-School sale! Just click here to order!