32. Dr. Bob Klaber - kindness matters!

Today, I‘m talking to Bob Klaber - a charismatic London paediatrician, building a global movement for kindness.

Like ‘Whose Shoes’, Bob is exploring a topic that could be seen as ‘soft and fluffy’, and bringing it centre stage. Bob’s kindness movement was featured at the Quality and Safety Forum in Gothenburg. I was delighted to contribute to one of the crowdsourced videos.

Lemon lightbulbs 🍋💡🍋

• Important to contextualise healthcare in people’s lives - find out what matters to them
• Share the power. Use healthcare appointments to codesign ways to maximise quality of life
• See things from children’s perspective, including language!
• Life aspirations are typically far more pressing than short-term medical considerations
• As a hospital consultant, find ways to make yourself accessible, not aloof!
• Everyday sexism is rife! Find ways to counter it
• #NoHierarchyJustPeople - sparking real conversations, breaking down  barriers
• Storytelling –  put something of yourself out there, show some vulnerability, let people know what you really care about
• Let’s act. Let’s move. This is urgent!
• Can you measure kindness? Should you  try? 🤷🏼‍♀️
• Think beyond the processes. Be clear what you want to achieve. Don’t just measure things because you can!
• Exploring feelings and experiences is deep and energising … and  hard work
• The tide has turned. There’s no place for leadership through bullying and shouting at people
• The most downloaded podcast episodes aren’t necessarily the  most influential!
• Kindness, #WMTY, patient stories - coming together as a big movement
• NHS must look outwards – patients, local residents, the wider community
• Coproduce the things that will make the biggest impact
• See things from different perspectives, recognise and acknowledge the tensions - can help us  move forward
• Be curious! Challenge yourself to be open-minded rather than thinking “Oh well, that’s how it is”
• Be like children.The ‘5 Why’s’ ? 🤷🏼‍♀️ Children ask 19 whys in a row!
• The human side of care: people join the monthly kindness sessions from Australia and New Zealand in the middle of the night!
• There are people from 30 different countries - a sense of collective power, collective learning, collective curiosity, give people a sense of hope and community
• Informal connections - the ripples are powerful
• There is value in feeling and experiencing the impact, rather than  having to measure everything 
• It ‘s important to reflect – but it doesn’t always need to be through formal channels. It could be on Bob‘s bike!
• Find the balance between reflection - and doing things!
• Find the things that matter most, that will have the biggest impact. Be deliberate
• Shoutout to Dr Mary Salama! #IntentionalCoffee ☕️☕️
• Relational meetings - find out what people are thinking – as opposed to transactional meetings
• Kindness goes beyond the individual  leader – build it into the organisation, into the  system

Links and resources
Prof. Marshall Ganz: The story of self, us, now: https://youtu.be/EfsfG3DkSuA

Crowdsourced kindness videos, shown at  Quality and Safety Forum 2022 - clip including Gill Phillips: https:/

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