Now more than ever, kindness is essential, and that shouldn’t change once you get behind your laptop and put your work hat on.
As Random Acts of Kindness Day rolls around again this week, it’s a good time to be thinking about how you can show a little kindness to your business community:
1. Leave reviews
I’ve talked about this before, but reviews are critical for the survival and growth of so many people’s businesses, and they only take a few minutes to write, but how many of us take that time? Let’s be honest, we could all find three minutes in a day to share a review if we make the effort – so maybe this week, let’s all try that and give at least seven organisations our (constructive) feedback.
2. Highlight and promote those who deserve it
Do you recognise the people you enjoy working with, and the brands you use? Does that recognition really add value to them? Could you feature your suppliers, partners, clients, and brands on your social media channels? If you already do that, what are you saying about them, are you simply mentioning their names, or are you sharing valuable content or interesting advice that benefits them and is interesting and educational to your audience?
3. Avoid getting pulled into negativity, scaremongering or slander
Social media and PR has been such a lifeline to many over the last year. There have been some fantastic campaigns used for support, education, advice and to help people feel more connected. However, at the same time, social media has been used by some to divide, alienate, misinform, and pursue their own agendas. Think about the content you engage with, the things that you like and share, and the comments you make on other people’s content – about how it might make other’s feel. You don’t know what other people are going through in these challenging times, so remember what you were (hopefully) taught as a child – if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all!
4. Provide support
Support means different things to different people. Some people may appreciate a phone call to check in and say hi, to enquire after the business and take the time to listen. Others may appreciate a more hands-on mentorship approach – some friendly advice or recommendations for their business. Some in your community might really appreciate you sharing templates, cheat sheets, and tried-and-tested solutions that they can work with. Take a bit more time when you engage and communicate with your community and find out the ways you might be able to show them some kindness.
It’s not hard to be kind, unfortunately we often overlook this virtue when we’re rushing around with our busy days. If we can try to be a bit more mindful about what we say and do, we can often add a lot more kindness with minimal effort. When you next thank someone, make it meaningful and give specifics; when offering feedback, tell people exactly what made a difference to you; smile and be patient as much as you can… If we all made these small efforts on a regular basis, we really could make such a difference to the world.
