The oxford dictionary definition of kindness as “the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate”. The movie Lage Raho Munna Bhai 2006 gave us the word “Gandhigiri” for kindness. ‘Kindness’ one of the great virtues of Mahatma Gandhi himself.
So in the spirit of Gandhi Jayanti, we at GoodWorks, decided to celebrate Gandhigiri at GoodWorks. Simply put, it’s about promoting kindness in our coworking environment where people come from different backgrounds and represent various organizations.
We live in a fast pace world where kindness and compassion have (kind-of)taken a back seat. Human interactions on social media has increased, but sometimes we forget how to deal with the person sitting by us.
Especially if they are strangers or don’t work for our organization.
Did you know Kindness is an interpersonal skill?
If you grew up in the 90s you would remember your friends telling you, “Stop your Gandhigiri” if you ever tried to help someone without a motive or defend someone in their absence. That’s because kindness is often considered as a sign of weakness or submissiveness.
It’s not. It is the quality that both corporate and social world needs today. Simple acts of kindness can make everyone’s day. Here are a few ways you can show kindness at work:
1. Keeping the washroom clean after use, knowing that someone is going to enter after you
2. Replacing the empty tissue roll (is just being considerate)
3. Holding the door open for the person behind you is better than letting the door smack their face
4. Talking softly on the phone in the corridor (will not disturb the shared space folks)
5. turning off the lights and fan before leaving the room or when you find them on when everybody else has left (can be enviorment friendly)
6. Offering help to your coworkers without any motive
7. saying hellos to your coworkers
8. smiling
9. bringing coffee
10. helping someone carry a heavy load
If we just look around and be aware of your surroundings you will find hundreds of chances to show random acts of kindness. This will only promote more kindness and positivity in your coworking environment. Even a few researchers have previously shown us that people find warm and considerate people very attractive and kindness builds a sense of community
I am leaving you with this powerful thought by Mahatma Gandhi on Kindness
