KIND

Winner - Business Book Awards 2025 What if someone told you the key to success was kindness? While it doesn't always make headlines, there is a growing recognition that kindness is vital to strong performance at work. In the broad range of leadership skills, kindness is inherently quieter, more personal and harder to see - and yes, less interesting or cinematic than controversial tweets and 'bullying boss' behaviour. But kindness builds empathy and trust, which ultimately creates a sense of psychological safety - and that safety leads to more creativity; a better quality of decision-making; safer critical thinking; higher levels of staff loyalty, flexibility and retention; a heightened sense of engagement; and, ultimately, higher productivity and profitability. In KIND, Graham Allcott explores how we can create work cultures that encourage kindness. He argues that, far from being a 'fluffy' or nebulous idea, kindness and empathy are 21st century superpowers, which can transform any organization into a dynamic environment where people want to work. The author aims to convince the doubters, as well as helping already 'kindful' people, to articulate the power of kindness and make a stronger case for its greater profile in their working environments. Drawing on psychology and neuroscience as well as management theory and business research, he shows how kindness helps encourage productive and positive work cultures. From busting three important myths that need to be addressed to engage the more cynical reader - or the reader's more cynical colleagues - to covering 'The Eight Principles of Kindfulness at Work', Graham Allcott offers practical advice on how to make kindfulness part of the fabric of your working life so both you and your team can thrive.

Graham Allcott is the founder of Think Productive (https://thinkproductive.co.uk), as well as a well-known author and speaker; his five books include the global bestseller, How to be a Productivity Ninja. He is also active on social media platforms and with his weekly email, Rev Up for the Week. How to be a Productivity Ninja has sold over 100,000 copies in the UK alone, and been translated into several languages, including Dutch, Spanish, German, Thai, Mandarin, Russian and Arabic. He's also an experienced speaker, having presented at Talks at Google, several times for the London Business Forum, General Assembly, and for 100+ corporate clients including Barclays, Amazon, Zoopla, T-Rowe Price, Volkswagen, Audi, eBay, Canon and Global Radio. Private coaching clients have also included prominent international business leaders.

Introduction PART ONE: The Quiet Power of Kindness 1: The case for kindness at work 2: The three myths of kindness PART TWO: The Eight Principles of Kindfulness - 3: Kindness starts with you - 4: Set clear expectations - 5: Listen deeply - 6: People first, work second. Always. - 7: Be humble - 8: Treat people the way THEY want to be treated - 9: Slow down - 10: It doesn't end with you Final thoughts: The Future