I was at the receiving end of kindness this evening. My wife and I were visited by a pair of traveling missionaries who we welcomed into our home to allow them to warm themselves. Conversation ensued and before we knew it, it was nearly 9:00 p.m. I must say it was the two best hours I have spent in weeks because my soul was refreshed from the outpouring of kindness that I had the joy of experiencing. These missionaries knew I had been sick from a disease I have been suffering with for eight years now. Their words poured over me like honey in my tea and made me find hope again.

Who can measure the good that comes from kindness? I have been the giver and receiver of it and I have experienced joy at both ends. That is one of the outstanding qualities of kindness. It brings personal joy to give it, as much as it does to receive it.

Kindness should be something that is spoken more about in board rooms and business meetings, but it obviously is not. Business is cold and it demands that numbers be met, and quotas reached, and benchmarks obtained. Business is often driven by the cold reality of profits. Unfortunately, the human element is often removed from business. This is unfortunate since everyone knows you can catch more bees with honey.

I have often wondered what business would be like if it were handled with kindness instead of with coldness. I think business would thrive as much as it does now and more, and our world would be a much different place. Where kindness is employed, humans thrive. When humans thrive they perform at their best. If corporations are seeking better performance they should try kindness as a motivator.

In the above quote Wayne Teasdale noted that:?Kindness is the highest form of intelligence?. ?Teasdale was a monk, an author and teacher from the U.S.A.. He became known primarily as a creative proponent of the mutual understanding between the world's religions; he was also an advocate for social justice issues? according to http://Wikipedia.com. You would think that businesses would embrace kindness if it were as Teasdale promoted it. I thought about his words and where it came from. Here was a man determined to find unity among different religions of the world. That takes some doing, don't you agree? In his negotiating efforts with the tug and pull of philosophically different people, he must have learned patience, compassion, and empathy. He must have experienced first hand the wonder of kindness as he tactfully brought together warring factions in a united effort.

Kindness is a masterful technique when employed. It can quite down tempers; it can totally obliterate hatred and the emotional rage that goes with it. Kindness can open the way for a different viewpoint. It can look over the mistakes of the weak, and it can offer hope for change. It can inspire reciprocal kindness, for as one experiences the efforts of others to understand, it makes us reach out to understand others.

Kindness is probably the quickest way to damage or service recovery I have ever witnessed. It can pull immediate resources to accomplish the impossible. It can unite diametrically opposed people in seconds flat. It is quite amazing. I remember being part of a political discussion between democrats and republicans in a two townships meeting where issues were being discussed that had a long history of never being able to be resolved. A person in the room expressed a kind gesture to an opposing political figure head, and suddenly the spirit of the meeting changed and insults were dropped, and in a flash figure heads were kidding and laughing and conversing politely with one another and that evening saw for the first time in years a resolution to a long held problem concerning taxes and township responsibility for a local failing amusement park. In the end the city wound up being the host to one of the most wildly successful amusement parks seen in years. Kindness is powerful!

I agree with Teasdale. I believe kindness is the highest form of intelligence because when employed it infiltrates the deepest cockles of the heart and mind and accomplishes the impossible where normal human efforts have failed. I have witnessed its power and I know it works. It should be applied in business and it should be applied in our family lives and in every relationship we have. If we do so we will experience personal empowerment on a level never before realized. So here's to being kind. Kindness is empowering!