I saw an interesting segment on a PBS television show last night.
William F.
Baker, the author of a new book was interviewed.
His new book is titled "Leading With Kindness".
Although I have not yet read this book, the title intrigued me, as did the author himself.
His basic premise is that one can run a very successful business and at the same time, be kind to all those around you.
He is living proof of this.
He pointed to the latest mess on Wall Street and mentioned that he felt that many on Wall Street were not kind to those who worked for them as well as their customers.
He stated that if they had been kind, the greed and subsequent mess that our financial system is in currently may not have even happened as it has.
I got thinking about how we are taught as children to be kind to others, and wondered just how the small business owner can do the same.
I came up with 3 basic areas in which the that the small business owner can make a difference by being kind.
Be kind to your employees.
Shouting and bullying never works and if it does, it will not work for very long.
Praise goes a long way, as does positive reinforcement, rather than ranting and raving.
We all make mistakes and none of us are perfect.
Being kind to employees can build up loyalty in them that will almost always translate into your business running better, and that does translate into a better bottom line.
Be kind to customers.
Service with a smile and being friendly and helpful goes a long way too to enhancing the customer's experience in their dealings with your small business.
The friendly atmosphere and willingness to help is worth a lot to many customers and can have them coming back repeatedly.
That translates into customer loyalty and profits.
Being kind to yourself.
The small business owner is faced with many challenges and is not always going to do everything right either.
Beating up on yourself for not being in all places at all times, doing everything perfectly every time is counterproductive to your business's overall progress.
If your emotional and mental state is not in order in the first place, you cannot be giving of yourself to the business to the maximum.
Simple stuff to implement and not expensive to do either.
The tone that you as a the business owner sets can either help or hinder your business.
Seems to me that being kind is should be a big part setting that tone.