The Leadership Edge We Forgot: Why Kindness Still Matters
Where has kindness gone?
The world—depending on how you look at it—is always evolving, always churning.
Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) are no longer buzzwords. They are our baseline, our new normal.
At times, it feels like we are living inside a volcano. Constant pressure, unexpected eruptions, and everything in motion.
And yet, what’s disappearing quietly—almost invisibly—is the glue that once held it all together.
Kindness.
Not the grand gestures, but the everyday kind. The unseen kind.
The kind that forgives, that listens, that helps without a scoreboard.
Work, where we spend most of our lives should be a space where we give a part of ourselves to something bigger. And yet it’s becoming brittle.
Universal values—generosity, gratitude, respect, now too often replaced by speed, defensiveness, and self-preservation.
Kindness has somehow become...unfashionable.
We reward output over presence. We celebrate intellect but forget to honour integrity.
But here’s the truth I’ve come to believe deeply:
Kindness isn’t weakness. It’s power.
The quiet kind of power that aligns teams, builds trust, and creates lasting value. It’s the ripple that becomes the wave.
Kind leaders don’t just lead better—they invite others to do the same.
And the net impact? More humanity, more resilience, more progress.
So in this world of heat and hurry, maybe kindness is the leadership edge we’re all overlooking.
What would happen if we brought it back?
A former Board Member, CPO, and 2022 HR Leader of the Year, Anoop creates the space for C-suite leaders to turn complexity into clarity and strategy into action.