In this episode of the Healthcare Leadership Excellence podcast, I sit down with author Graham Alcott to explore why kindness is not soft—it is a driver of real performance. Graham is known worldwide for Productivity Ninja, but his newest book, Kind, looks at how trust, truth, and grace fuel team effectiveness.

Graham shares the moment in Rome where an audience of investment bankers asked about the secret to his success. His answer surprises even him: “When you are kind, you win.” That sparks a room-wide divide between people who see kindness as strength and those who believe only pressure gets results. That tension shapes our entire conversation.

We dig into Graham’s core distinction: nice vs. kind. Nice tells people what they want to hear. Kind tells them what they need to hear. Kindness requires truth, courage, and skill—especially when giving feedback. We talk about why leaders avoid hard messages, how psychological safety grows from daily actions, and why humility keeps high performers learning.

Graham closes with the “café sospeso” idea from Naples: small acts can ripple through a whole system when leaders make it easy for people to be kind. Productivity may start with managing attention, but sustained performance grows from the culture that leaders create.

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