We are surrounded by stories about leaders every day. In the media (mainstream and social), at work, in conversations with friends and family. In theory, this means we are aware of what leadership is supposed to look like.
But the ones that make it into the media are almost always what I call the ‘scary monster’ example of leadership. The ones that are loud, aggressive, negative, inciting fear and hate. The ones who are driven by ego and the constant need to show they are the ‘strongest’, that they are ‘succesful’.
In his book ‘Kind. The quiet power of kindness at work’ Graham Allcott describes this as the myth that being a bastard is how you succeed in business.
A different approach
But like Graham, I believe that these types of leaders aren’t great leaders, they aren’t strong, they don’t get the best out of people and businesses. So I decided to start a campaign to share the stories of people who are leading in a different way, with kindness.
I want to show that those scary monster leaders are in the news partly because they are the exception rather than the norm. That there are lots of leaders out there who are leading with kindness and are generating business and organisational success from their approach.
So over the coming weeks, across the Time for Kindness social media channels and brand-new YouTube channel, we’ll be sharing a series of interviews with kind leaders. In our conversations, they share examples, tips and advice about how they lead and the impact that kindness is having on their organisations and their people.
I also hope the stories I share will inspire others to bring more kindness into their own leadership.
In conversation with Phoebe Brown
First up, I spoke to Phoebe Brown, Director of Repair Café Wales, a national charity that supports communities to set up and run repair cafes. These are pop-up spaces where members of the public bring broken items to be fixed by volunteers, bringing people together and reducing landfill.
I really enjoyed my conversation with Phoebe, as she explained how the kindness ethos runs through her charity and is a core part of her own leadership style. As a small core team of 9, with a network of around 140 repair cafes to support, there are a lot of moving parts, so the way that she leads them is vital for everyone to be able to play their part to the best of their ability.
Phoebe’s top tips
I loved the examples that Phoebe shared with me about the way that she leads.
- Adopt a people-first approach, thinking about your team as humans before they are employees or volunteers. When you take the time to understand what works best for a person, it creates bonds of humanity and empathy, which go a long way in good times and challenging ones.
- Leadership is not a one-size fits all. Be flexible where you can and put people who will be affected by a decision at the heart of your decision-making.
- Kind isn’t the same as nice or fluffy. Kind leaders still have difficult conversations, set deadlines and boundaries. But they do so in a respectful way.
- When people feel respected, they are more creative because they feel they can suggest their own ideas, which might be something different that you haven’t thought of.
- Listen to people and use their expertise. Everything the team at Repair Cade Wales do is community-led, bringing together the team’s knowledge of how to run a café with the local knowledge of the volunteers.
I also asked Phoebe about her advice to anyone who wants to lead with kindness but is nervous that they won’t be a ‘proper leader’. Her answer was clear:
“I think people are most productive, which is what we’re all looking for from our teams, when they are treated with kindness because they feel supported.”
We finished our conversation with the point that Phoebe’s kindness as a leader is beneficial to her team and to the planet, to local communities and to global communities. Ultimately, leadership is another area that demonstrates the ripple effect of kindness, which goes much further than we immediately realise.
What next?
- To listen to the full 10-minute conversation I had with Phoebe, visit our YouTube channel.
- Stay tuned for more conversations with more kind leaders coming up over the next few weeks
- Please spread the word about these conversations with your colleagues, friends and family, we all need positive, hopeful examples of leadership.
- I’d like to have more of these conversations to share the stories, so get in touch if you’re a kind leader yourself or you know someone who is.
Take care
Sarah
Read our blog about kindness in Aberystwyth, including the local repair cafe.
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