Self-Kindness for Leaders

The benefits of kindness at work are well-researched and widely known. What about kindness towards self? Do we value it as much as kindness for others, especially those of us in leadership roles?

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It is tough to be a leader today. You need to both drive business results in a complex, fast-paced, rapidly changing environment and also support and care for your people. When things go wrong, the natural response is often is to be hard on ourselves. It's important to know how to override the self-critical voice and to bring care and understanding to ourselves.

If you lead others, a commitment to be kinder to yourself is necessary for several reasons:

Being tough on yourself generates extra stress, and that is not sustainable for your mental or physical health;
By being highly self-critical, you are not being a good role model for your people; and
You are of most service to your organization, your people, and your clients when you can balance business results with compassion – towards yourself as well as others.

As we recognize the immense value of being kind to others, let’s not forget that being kind starts with ourselves.

Below we've gathered some resources to get you started with your self-kindness practice.

Self-Kindness Meditation

Try this simple and effective 5-minute self-kindness meditation. This is a great place to start, and something you can come back to again.

Potential Project International · Self Kindness Meditation

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Balancing Self-Criticism with Self-Kindness

Nick Hobson, Potential Project's Director of Behavioral and Data Sciences, shares his thoughts on how leaders can balance self-criticism with self-kindness.