Most important soft skill at the workplace

Hey there,

After 15 years of writing code, I learned a thing or two about what makes great teams.

Let's talk about kindness, specifically being kind to colleagues at the workplace, why does it matter and what are its benefits.

Kindness is a trait whose return on investment is not immediately apparent, but being kind to your colleagues opens huge opportunities.

Being kind makes people drop their shields and trust you, which is actually the biggest leverage you can have in a team. If you are trusted you are the go-to person for critical situations, as the team members feel they can safely rely on you to get the job done. This is a status you should aim for as it has numerous benefits.

Kindness greatly improves your relationships and reputation at the workplace. This is an essential point suggested by Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - self-actualization, which is when you personally feel valued, appreciated and needed. This is where work becomes highly enjoyable.

Being kind to others also makes you more productive. Kindness leads to others appreciating you, which makes you feel great among your peers, which leads to a lot more productivity. Therefore being kind to others has direct benefits for your career, productivity and quality of your output.

There are also product benefits - when team members are kind and supportive to eachother, the resulting product is vastly superior - it feels like a cohesive solution instead of a rushed one. This is why kindness should be encouraged at the workplace - it has a big return on investment, plus it makes for a fun atmosphere.

Last but not least, if job safety is important to you, you should always be kind to everyone by default. The reason for this is that people much prefer talking to kind people and having them around. Dramatic, difficult colleagues are always the first ones to be laid off, for obvious reasons.

Bottom line is, be kind and selfless at the workplace. It will skyrocket your career and the vast benefits will greatly surprise you.

Hope you enjoyed this and please don't hesitate to let me know what other topics you want to read about.

Have a great week!

/Andrei