Kindness in the workplace

Why do you think kindness should matter to leadership today? What difference does a more caring workplace make?

In other words, why should business want a kind environment? Studies have shown a  more caring place has a loyal staff, happier employees and more productive work done. 

The big challenge of any workplace is creating cohesive yet diverse work teams. Diverse teams helps make sure your solutions will work. Cohesive means - everyone gets input and no one is ostracised.

One of the best ways to make that happen - is to emphasize kindness and dignity.

All businesses are in the business of solving problems. Kindness helps make sure we solve problems well because it ensures that all viewpoints are heard.

The added benefit it is - people like working in places where they are treated kindly.

Kindness is both a moral good and a pragmatic good and that is the reason it should be practiced in the workplace.

To learn how to do this better - take my online course - Humanistic Communication Strategies: https://humanistlearning.com/humanistic-communication-strategies/

We need knowledge and caring and sharing

I came across this video by Vandana Shiva - a physicist and thinker the other day. She talks about the importance of knowledge and caring and sharing as a way of life, that impacts - everything. Businesses, interpersonal relationships, life on earth - everything.

It's a very articulate statement of the humanistic mindset. Check it out.

Saying Yes

Sometimes you gotta say yes!

At the beginning of August I wrote a post about learning to say no to save your sanity (see it here: http://humanisthappiness.blogspot.com/2012/08/just-say-no.html) Given that I am a big fan of saying no, why on earth am I writing a post about saying yes?

I’m glad you asked.  The say no post was actually about learning how to find balance in your life between your competing responsibilities. You need to balance your needs, against the needs of your family and the needs of your society.  But just because you need to take care of yourself first doesn’t mean you should always say no.

You do have a responsibility to others.  I say yes to a very inconvenient request in August. A woman called me on a Friday night asking if I could officiate her father’s funeral the next day. I had plans for the weekend.  But I still said yes.

Why? Because her need was greater than mine. She was in grief and in a panic because she had spent several days trying to find a non-religious person to give the service and had failed. No one should have to go through what she did while they are grieving.  My husband and my son gave me permission to leave them for the day to take care of a complete stranger. They understood. Her need for my time was greater than theirs.

I need to add that I have never done a funeral before, and I am not trained as a celebrant and so I was scared that I would do her father justice and help her. I helped her anyway. Her need was greater than my fear.

And in the end, it is when we are giving of ourselves to others to help ease their pain that we feel the most alive. When you are striving for balance, don’t use the need to find balance to become selfish. Sometimes you need to say yes, even though the thought of saying yes scares you, say yes.

Image: "Yes And No Buttons" by digitalart http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

Ten Humanist Commitments

We Humanists don’t do commandments. We do, however, feel very strongly about our commitments to others.  This is why the Kochhar Humanist Education Center has issued 10 Humanist Commitments to Education.  These are the values Humanists feel should be taught in our schools.  http://cohe.humanistinstitute.org/?page_id=14747

The website also includes resources in case you want to teach your own children these values and skills. For the record, the 10 values Humanist feel we should be committed to teaching our children are:

1. Altruism
2. Caring for the World Around Us
3. Critical Thinking
4. Empathy
5. Ethical Development
6. Global Awareness
7. Humility
8. Peace and Social Justice
9. Responsibility
10. Service and Participation

 “This ethical mission is an essential part of all education, public and private, elementary through high school and university.  In a democratic and pluralist society, we believe that the values presented should be the moral foundation of education.”

If you agree – add your name to the document. http://cohe.humanistinstitute.org/?page_id=14747

Learn to Under Indulge

Under Indulge once in a while

Last month the NY Times had an article about the art ofunder-indulgence. It is about the science that shows that under indulging, that is indulging a little less than you might normally is a key to happiness.

I like this article because a) it is counter intuitive, b) it is based on what seems like actual science and c) because it is consistent with my own proclivities and yes, I consider myself a happy person.

Basically, science tells us that it is the initial response to something new that creates the best return on our happy synapses. After we indulge, the high we get from indulging becomes lessened. In other words, imagine you just sat down to an incredible meal. It is the first bite of a tremendously tasty meal that is tasty. The more you eat, the less aware you are of how incredible your meal tastes. In other words, the more you eat, the more you dull your taste buds. So, to get the most bang for your indulgent buck, you need to indulge less because the very act of indulging diminishes your returns.

So, if you have become convinced that to be happy you just need more, whether it is more money, food, candy, sex, or whatever it is you indulge in, you should realize that the science really does show, more isn’t necessarily better. Which is probably why people with severe indulgence problems (aka addictions) aren’t very happy.

The only exception to this rule is when you indulge in helping others. The more you give to others, the happier you are.  And yes, there is apparently science to back that up as well. So, to recap, indulging is good, but only to a point. After that, share what you got. In other words Franklin was right. In all things moderation.  

Image: "Woman And Ice Cream" by Naito8 FreeDigitalPhotos.net