When you think about the word ‘entrepreneur’, qualities like leadership, fierceness, and hard-working might come to mind. But what about the quality of kindness?
The theme of collaboration over competition has surfaced over the years changing the way entrepreneurs do business. This shift is caused by major changes in the industry like the fact that women have grown to represent over 42 percent of all American businesses with over 250 million women entrepreneurs worldwide. And psychologically, women report experiencing more compassion in their lives than men report doing. So, it’s time to change the way we think about business.
Recent studies have shown that kindness can pay off more than we think, especially in the modern workforce. Looking back at the climate of 2020, kindness was quick to become the emerging trend of the year. From compassionate brands helping provide the resources and tools for others to spread the message like the Nonprofit Campaign, Random Acts of Kindness, and Kindness.org, to social media movements. Big corporations like Dairy Queen, Havaianas, and Volkswagen were also quick to jump on the movement with their own acts of kindness.
Amazing things happen when entrepreneurs shift from a self-centered, aggressive approach and choose to be sympathetic and have compassion in business. In honor of World Kindness Day, we decided to dive into how kindness goes a long way for entrepreneurs.
Kindness strengthens trust.
It’s a proven fact that when leaders are compassionate and act out of kindness, they make their team members and colleagues feel safe. Safe in this case means the ability to be themselves and not worry about being judged or any other negative ramifications. Once this trust is established, everything else falls into place in favor of the business.
When an entrepreneur acts out of kindness, it encourages the people around them to think in a different manner. It allows them to feel safe to get creative and innovative because they don’t fear any consequences. Think about those scenes in movies where the nervous team member pitches their idea to a room full of people including their boss and it ends in utter embarrassment. You don’t want anyone you work with to feel this way. Instead, respond to ideas with sympathy.
Kindness establishes respect.
Respect works both ways in the workplace. Many traditional work settings went based on a ‘chain of command’ type of structure, where the leader held respect from all, but the lower the position, the less that standard held true. This old way of thinking is rapidly diminishing and being replaced with compassion.
To be respected, you must show respect for others. When you show compassion and make people feel good it invokes a positive attribution about you in the other person’s mind. They will feel like they have a greater responsibility to the business and give you the respect you so kindly give to them.
Kindness helps everyone’s health.
Being kind can improve anyone’s mental and physical health. If you’ve ever had a job experience where your boss or colleague took a toll on your stress levels, you’ll know how important it is to be compassionate. If the people you work with are feeling anxious or overwhelmed, it can hurt business because they lack motivation and a sense of fulfillment. Stress also leads to negative health effects like heart disease and higher blood pressure. When a work environment starts impacting health in such ways, many people are quick to leave and find new jobs in more company culture-centered places.
Implementing acts of kindness within your work environment can help boost everyone’s state of health. It’s as simple as checking up on someone’s mental state or giving them a compliment. When entrepreneurs treat the people they come across with kindness, they are being an example of what a good leader is. And that leads to others learning how to create better habits when it comes to their own kindness. One spark truly starts a fire.
Not to mention, you’ll also boost your own health because engaging in acts of kindness produces endorphins that can lower blood pressure! And there’s something about making someone else feel good that gives you a euphoric feeling.
Kindness leads to success.
Taking the previous points into consideration, kindness leads to success within your business and personal life. You are creating genuine connections that last longer than a simple business deal. This becomes the community that supports you and cheers you on through the hardships and celebrations.
People who work with kind people are more likely to exhibit strong work performance and help build each other up. When others around you are able to experience your emotions, they will catch on fairly quickly. And you’re able to get more prospects and collaborations when you exhibit characteristics like kindness, generosity, and other qualities of a team player. Helping others succeed within their business goals, makes it a mutually beneficial relationship that’s a win-win for everyone.
It may sound cliché, but kindness is very contagious. Being sympathetic to others can help you succeed as an entrepreneur in many different aspects. The more you are able to implement compassion into your business, the more reputable and authentic you and your business will be in the long run.
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