{"id":1661,"date":"2011-01-24T12:56:46","date_gmt":"2011-01-24T16:56:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifewithhappiness.com\/?p=1661"},"modified":"2018-10-02T13:36:50","modified_gmt":"2018-10-02T17:36:50","slug":"never-underestimate-the-power-of-kindness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theexecutivehappinesscoach.com\/2011\/01\/never-underestimate-the-power-of-kindness\/","title":{"rendered":"Never Underestimate the Power of Kindness"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>I received a phone call from a friend who just landed a job.\u00a0 That news, by itself, was cause for celebration!<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>But the real reason for his call surprised me.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff\">He&#8217;d come up to me at church one week and asked if he could meet me for coffee sometime &#8212; his treat.\u00a0 (I&#8217;ll meet with most anyone who offers me free coffee, so I said Yes).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff\">He&#8217;d been in an executive role, was now unemployed, and his search dragged on with little hope.\u00a0 He was toying with the idea of doing some consulting, as an alternative to a traditional job.\u00a0 I remember that during our meeting I listened and helped him brainstorm a bit.\u00a0 I probably suggested a few contacts and strategies, but I must confess that the meeting was not very memorable for me.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff\">Over the next few months I ran into him at several professional networking events, including some that I&#8217;d suggested to him.\u00a0 I rejoiced with him when he landed a consulting gig.\u00a0 Every so often he gifted me with a small package of some new, exotic coffee bean he&#8217;d come across &#8212; which I attributed to our shared love of fresh-ground dark-roasted coffee.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>When he called today, I felt positively overwhelmed by the strength of his gratitude for my help. <\/strong>Apparently, that initial conversation last year helped to pull him out of a deep funk into which he&#8217;d descended.<br \/>\n<strong>His call reminded me of the power of Kindness<\/strong> &#8212; in this case, saying yes to a meeting and providing moral support and a listening ear.<br \/>\n<strong>It also reminded me that we don&#8217;t always recognize when we are doing something meaningful for another person. <\/strong>Sometimes just offering a smile or a listening ear to someone who&#8217;s having a bad day feels so easy&#8221; yet has a huge impact.\u00a0 Perhaps the best strategy is to show up, always, with respect and a willingness to be of service.<br \/>\nAnd in case no one&#8217;s told you this today &#8212; <strong>I appreciate you!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We don&#8217;t always recognize when we are being Kind to another person.  Sometimes just offering a smile or a listening ear to someone who&#8217;s having a bad day feels so &#8220;easy&#8221; for us yet has a huge impact for the other.  Perhaps the best strategy is to show up, always, with respect and a willingness to be of service.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5789,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,13],"tags":[335,169],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Never Underestimate the Power of Kindness - The Executive Happiness Coach\u00ae<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theexecutivehappinesscoach.com\/2011\/01\/never-underestimate-the-power-of-kindness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Never Underestimate the Power of Kindness - The Executive Happiness Coach\u00ae\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We don&#039;t always recognize when we are being Kind to another person. 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