What a challenging year we have all lived through: bushfires at the start of the year killing over 400 people; quickly followed by a global pandemic with an ever increasing death toll. It’s strange to think that our grandchildren will learn about 2020 in the years to come, much as our kids now learn about the flu pandemic of 1918, or the two World Wars.

While they’ll obviously learn about the challenges, I wonder if they’ll also learn about some of the positive things to come out of this year, particularly for Australians?

Seeing the way people around Australia have come together to support each other this year, while not new, has been truly remarkable. Social media initiatives like The Kindness Pandemic, that grew to over half a million members in just a fortnight, the growth of existing Good Karma Networks that connect local communities together to share resources and support, the many Facebook groups that have popped up to showcase local businesses, and so on, have really highlighted how we can support each other and think of community when the proverbial hits the fan.

What has really struck home for me this year however, is how much of a role kindness needs to play in business. Who would have thought that good karma has a role to play in our business lives as well as our personal lives?

As a team, the SalesFix staff have come closer together this year. We communicate more, understand more, and care more. As each of our three locations (Queensland, Victoria and Manilla) have undergone different challenges, we’ve been supportive and understanding. We’ve cared for each other in ways that remind me of my days working in the not-for-profit sector, where people are the most important thing.

Two of our values, customer success and family spirit, have been mission-critical for us this year. We’ve been adaptable and flexible with both our existing and new customers. We’ve tried to understand the challenges they’ve faced as each has been impacted in different ways.

Our consulting approach has also played a role. As an organisation, we follow the “Naked Consulting” approach that has the concept of vulnerability at its heart. We embrace humility, selflessness and transparency for the good of our customers. Being ‘naked’ with our customers allows us to gain trust and confidence, resulting in customer loyalty. Never has that been more tested than during this year.

Naked consulting focuses on three fears:

• the fear of losing the business
• the fear of being embarrassed, and
• the fear of feeling inferior.

As consultants, we work to rid ourselves of these fears as follows:

This works as well for us internally as it does externally. I’ve worked in plenty of places where, to admit to your own limitations and mistakes was career-suicide. At SalesFix, we encourage each other to take ownership of our limitations, to ask for help, and to acknowledge when we’ve stuffed up. Because we all do, and we’ll always have each other’s backs.

So this Kindness Day, let’s all make life a little bit better for those we work with. Be open, be honest, admit your vulnerabilities. And maybe buy someone some chocolates!