The lost art of kindness in today's business world !

In today's business climate there is no room for kindness. In fact that would seem to extend to education and government as well. I find this very ironic because if you look back on our greatest success they have been through the combined works of people where helping each other out and extending a hand was a common factor. We all think of times like World War II and 9/11 when we put aside our individual selfishness and united for a common cause.

One of the best examples I remember is the movie Apollo 13 which showed how a bunch of otherwise competitive people came together together to solve a problem. While there are certainly situations where competition leads to success, joint measures work the best as we have seen.

Another example of this is when you are interacting with potential business partners or employers. Employers always seem to think that they own the relationship with interested parties and as such they believe they can ignore any party they meet with whom they have no further interest in. This part is not only rude but from a branding strategy it says a lot about your company. I know an HR person at a large tech company who laments the fact they can not recruit college students. When I asked about their outreach program it was the usual stuff where they meet on campus and bring some into school. I asked what about the others and she told me they don't do anything to them. I said, this tells people you don't care about people you only care about those who can help you out.

I caught on the news some of the President's news conference. I was shocked and appalled by how we inserted himself into the mess with Henry Gates and the Cambridge P.D. Now personally, I believe both parties are a bit at fault. Gates for not cooperating with a simple police request and the police for not handling the matter better. But for the President to say he didn't know all the facts and then lay all blame at the feet of the Cambridge Police. And they say that Biden says the stupid things!