In the competitive business world, you don’t often hear the word “virtue”, but I use it here to describe qualities that can make you more effective and productive when it comes to managing and growing your career. Being kind can help you get ahead.
Kindness is a great example of a business virtue. Many business leaders today make a point of treating everyone from the janitor to the CEO with kindness. It costs nothing, but can reap great rewards in the future. As a business virtue, it means choosing to be generous with your time, knowledge, and skills whenever you can.
Examples of kindness include: Giving much-needed advice to a colleague who is struggling, passing along information about an open position, or speaking warmly of a prior employer. All of these can come back to benefit you later. The opposite of kindness can certainly bite you! We’ve all heard the stories of candidates or new-hires who cut someone off in the parking lot or snapped at someone on the elevator, only to discover they’ve been unpleasant to important decision-makers. Unkindness carries a real risk.
One of the best places to be kind is during networking: Always be ready to offer a solution or connection to someone in need. They’ll be far more likely to think of you the next time they learn of an open position or when it comes to giving you an unexpected glowing reference!
Another appropriate time for kindness is during the interview process. Organizations commonly hold all-day job interviews with multiple teams, and when candidates are reviewed, even the receptionist may have input. Make sure you speak kindly of previous employers and colleagues. This lets interviewers know that someday when it comes time to leave their company, you are likely to speak well of them, too.
I use this virtue in my own business, to great effect. I offer free resume reviews and I do quite a few of them each month. This simple, kind offer has both increased my business and polished my reputation. Even those who use the information from the review but never become clients have returned the favour by offering referrals based on my positive interaction with them.
Kindness is a business virtue worth cultivating.
Leave a Reply