At Topline, we commit to being kind, instead of superficially "nice"—a principle that involves being truthful, supportive, and focused on the genuine well-being and development of our colleagues and the company. Kindness involves:
Providing honest feedback that fosters reflection and growth.
Supporting each other’s development and adaptation in the face of challenges.
Encouraging a long-term perspective on personal and professional goals.
Implementation:
Feedback and Communication:
Employees are encouraged to provide feedback that is both honest and constructive. Feedback should aim to support colleagues in understanding their strengths and areas for improvement without compromising on truth for the sake of comfort.
Communication should be direct and compassionate, guiding colleagues towards solutions and improvements rather than merely affirming what may be pleasant to hear.
Professional Development:
Support colleagues in their professional growth by recognizing and embracing change as a necessary and beneficial part of personal and organizational evolution.
Avoid shielding colleagues from challenges; instead, provide support that enables them to build the necessary skills and resilience to overcome these challenges.
Responsibility and Accountability:
Encourage personal responsibility and an internal locus of control. Employees should be reminded of their role in outcomes and inspired to take ownership of their actions.
Discourage the assignment of blame to external factors when addressing challenges or failures. Focus on actionable steps that individuals can take to learn and improve.
Support during Challenges:
When employees face personal or professional pain, they should be supported in understanding and leveraging these experiences for growth. This includes encouraging a constructive approach to dealing with setbacks and learning from them.
Kindness should not avoid discomfort if it serves growth; employees should be prepared to face and manage discomfort as a part of their development journey.
Recognition and Encouragement:
Recognize and celebrate efforts and achievements that demonstrate courage, resilience, and innovation.
Encourage a mindset that embraces challenges as opportunities for growth and learning.
A kind person will help you understand reality as it is, prompt you to reflect, and nudge you to fine-tune your position till you get to a place where your resolution is helpful for you. A nice person will tell you what feels good - and often what you think you want to hear at that time - even if it doesn’t help you move past that situation.
A kind person supports you as you adapt, grow, and evolve. They remind you that evolving as a human being isn’t something to be ashamed of. That everything evolves, and that’s life’s greatest accomplishment and reward. A nice person likes the version of you they know and wants you to keep that version, even at the risk of losing your place in the future. They are trying to shield you from the pain that comes from evolving - the experience of failing, learning, and improving into something new.
A kind person helps you remember the beauty of thinking and acting with a long-term view in mind. Happiness is collective flourishing for them. A nice person thinks the long-term will take care of itself, and you should exploit things now - even if anyone but you get hurt. Happiness, for them, is zero-sum and immediate.
And when you experience pain, a kind person helps you see the progress that can come from the pain. They are gentle but truthful with their feedback. They nudge you to go to the pain instead of running from it. They support you as you note what the pain is like, how it makes you feel, and over time, what you will do about it. A nice person doesn’t want to ‘kill the vibe’ and wants you to be comfortable. To them, nothing screams discomfort like pain. They may tell you not to think about the pain, and it will ‘disappear’.
A kind person sits with you as you navigate a tough situation. If they know you can build the skills to handle it, they don’t try to ‘save’ you by removing the situation. Instead, they support you as you find the strength and resources that the situation requires. A nice person can’t stand you going through something that tough, so they jump in to save you. What the nice person forgets is that they are robbing you of the strength you need to deal with setbacks, the will to adapt and be resilient, and the reminder of the great things you can accomplish regardless of the situation.
A kind person reminds you about your internal locus of control. They remind you of your role in the outcome you are experiencing, and if you are wise, you’ll take absolute responsibility and hold yourself accountable. From the place of accountability, you can see clearly what you need to do. A nice person gives you reasons why what you are experiencing isn’t really your fault, and how you can blame it on the government, the economy, and anything else but you. They understand your excuses. They know you are a good person, and life isn’t just fair to you.
And when you take on a new daunting project, the kind person tells you to find all the possible ways for it to be done, choose the best of it, and be flexible to change course during the journey. They tell you how daunting it will be and remind you of the courage and strength you carry. The nice person will also remind you of how daunting it will be, but tell you to set the bar low - at least for now - so it’s ‘easier’ to achieve. You know they mean well.
When you ask for feedback, the kind person will be warm and constructive in their feedback. But they will hold nothing back. They understand that the process of asking for feedback means you trust them enough for them to tell you the truth as they see it, even if it may bruise your ego. The nice person doesn’t want to hurt your feelings, they also will give you warm feedback. But just the good one. They don’t see it as their responsibility to tell you the ‘bad’ part. They imagine you’ll eventually hear it - maybe from the market, from those you serve, or from life.
If you have to choose between being nice and kind, the latter is a better option. The ultimate responsibility we all have is to be kind.
