Giving

One of the biggest takeaways from the Doris Kearns Goodwin bio of Lincoln was the propensity Lincoln had for utilizing kindness to fit into his unique leader's toolkit. He could at times be the most meek guy in the room, but his assertiveness when it was time to make a difficult decision, and the resolve he showed in sticking to his guns, won him the respect of his colleagues. Most importantly, his deep capacity for sympathy and objectivity allowed his decisions to be made with uncommon factors in mind, frequently allowing favors to others and building up a powerful reserve of social capital that propelled him to the presidency later in life.

I recently discovered the tabloid business news site Business Insider, which had a glowing review of Wharton professor Adam Grant's recent book Give & Take. Grant, the youngest ever tenured professor at one of the world's greatest b-schools, blends sociology and psychology in documenting how "givers"--selfless professionals who do favors for others while asking for nothing in return--are routinely the ones that get the most financial and other gains out of other professional and personal relationships. Essentially, he is mapping out how true Kanye was in saying "don't mistake kindness for weakness." (Was that Kanye West? Anyways...)

Today I went to mass in China for the first time in years. The ceremony at Beijing's oldest cathedral, founded by a Jesuit consultant to Chinese emperors, eunuchs, and officials named Matteo Ricci in the 17th century, was presided over by a priest who chose the topic of "love advertisement" as the theme for his homily. The idea basically was: love, displayed in more complicated ways but more often in simple kindnesses, is infectious. It draws people to itself and, meaningfully for a Christian congregation, it possesses a tremendous converting power that belies its meek appearance.

I took issue with the evangelical nature of the direction the homily went, but was fascinated by the crux of ideas connecting with both Goodwin's and Grant's discussions of kindness and leadership. Something seems to be in the water (or at least my water) pushing at this idea of the powerful kindness.