Leaders, kindness and mental health

THE prominent American literary figure Henry James made these remarks on kindness: “Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.”

Henry James died in 1916 – in the midst of the turbulent first world war. One wonders if that experience forged the articulation of his wisdom on the connection between human life and kindness.

As our world emerges from the global Covid-19 pandemic that has transformed (and in some cases ravaged) the lives of many at every level, many leaders and those they lead struggle with intense challenges and difficult times that they have hitherto not encountered in their living memory.