Kind is Not Nice

1 min read

Kindness shouldn't be mistaken for niceness. I had the good fortune of joining Cole Baker Bagwell on her Kindness Think Tank podcast where we had a wide-ranging discussion on kindness.

The original definition of kindness, shared by Cole, goes back to the 14th century: noble deeds and courtesy. The modern-day definition: the act of being generous and friendly. From noble to dumbed down and diluted. We celebrate random acts of kindness. The fact we are surprised and celebrating a random act feels more nice than kind.

I want to lead from a place of kindness. Intentional kindness. Deep kindness that shows up everyday: From being honest and direct to having uncomfortable conversations with positive intention and asking, 'How can I help?'. Intentional not random.

The kindness we should celebrate is the kindness that embodies how we show up in service of others each day.

In this podcast episode, we also discuss how to build kindness into how we hire. And I share a couple of my favorite quotes from my mother and my once boss, Martha Stewart. I hope you will listen.