The power of being kind in the workplace

Legend has it that it takes 43 muscles to frown while it only takes 17 muscles to smile. Legend also has it that if you work with people who are kind, warm hearted, friendly, smile, and remember your name, then it makes you want to stick around longer than average. There is also a legend that says working with mean people isn’t fun. Actually, those last two sentences are not legends, they are facts!

Work can be an incredibly stressful place for everyone. Whether you are in the office these days or on zoom staring at your co-workers, the stress and anxiety of delivering revenue, projects, efficiencies, and growth on time can be overwhelming. Even the best managers who are empathetic and caring can still add extreme stress with a few emails or meetings on the calendar. Throw in some painful customer interactions and the place that you spend the majority of your time each week becomes the melting pot of stress.

Environments like the ones listed above are where the kind hearted, open minded, and patient tend to thrive.

Kind people make the office a better place. They add a level of engagement to the environment that bring people together and help deliver some of the best work imaginable. The kind people are the ones that drive top rated culture and recruit world class talent as a result of their brand. There isn’t a way to measure “kind” on employee surveys, but chances are your top leaders run teams that are happier than the average as a result of this trait.

Think back to a moment where you’ve worked with some less than kind people. Would you refer them to work for your current company? Would you draft them to help in an important project? What are the odds that you ever invited them to lunch just to connect?

I’ve been fortunate to work with thousands of amazing people in my career, and I can name the ones who stood out above and beyond as being culture carriers. The ones who always greeted you with a smile, or who you hoped to run into on a rainy day. They were the ones who sent you a Slack message after the meeting to check in on you or to just say hello without a purpose behind it.

I can also name the one or two who have made an impression on my career as just terrible teammates. The ones who brought zero fun to the office, or who you would have done anything to avoid a meeting with. These individuals bring down an entire department, they’re a dark cloud on culture, and they are just overall are painful to be around.

So stop and think about your brand in the workplace. Are you the kind person who bring joy to the office? Are you the one who goes out of your way to say hello and help make some ones day special? Do you lift your head up as someone is passing to say good morning? Have you made it a point to get to know the names of people in departments in which you don’t work in?

Believe it or not, your career growth could be hinging on your ability to simply be a nice person.