Creating a Culture of Kindness

So how do you know if the advice you’re getting is good advice or something that works for you?

Wow. Right. This is the question. By the way, one other piece of feedback I often got was that I was too nice.

Oh yeah.

So somewhere mid-career, as I was being asked to take on hard roles and actually driving to success with teams large and small, you know, over and over again, “Hey, Barb, we need you here. Barb, would you do that?” And every time saying, “Yeah, I’m on it,” and getting things done.
I finally reached a point, and it was probably when my children were in their middle school and early high school years, I suddenly realized that no, this is actually a great style of leadership. It’s an acceptable style of leadership. And it happens to be my style.

Right.

It’s okay. It’s okay to be nice if that is you. And I remember distinctly having a conversation with a leader who was—we were having this challenging discussion about, you know, what style is right. And I was bold enough to say, I think the corporation needs more of what I have to offer.

I love that.

Well, it’s pretty bold for the little girl from Lexington, Virginia, who was taught to be polite to have to respectfully disagree and to point out that no, there are other ways to lead besides command and control and always being right and micromanaging your team.

Right, right.