Be Kind: The Most Overlooked Driver of Success | From Think Fast Talk Smart
TED Business
TED
4.0 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 16 February 2026
⏱️ 23 minutes
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Summary
What if kindness isn’t a soft skill — but a strategic one?
In this special episode from Think Fast, Talk Smart, host Matt Abrahams talks with management professor Bonnie Hayden Cheng about the business case for kindness. Her research on the “return on kindness” suggests that organizations grounded in compassion, candor, and trust often see stronger performance, deeper engagement, and healthier workplace cultures. Together, they explore how thoughtful communication shapes both relationships and results, and how small shifts can make a meaningful impact at work.
Think Fast, Talk Smart focuses on one of the most essential professional skills: communication. The podcast features conversations with leading researchers, authors, and practitioners who share practical, research-backed strategies you can use right away. Tune in twice a week for clear, actionable communication advice for virtually any professional situation.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | What if kindness wasn't just a personal value, but a real business advantage? |
| 0:05.8 | Today, I'm sharing a special episode from Think Fast, Talk Smart, |
| 0:10.4 | that dives into how being kind can get you further than you may have originally thought. |
| 0:15.2 | The episode features Stanford Communication Expert Matt Abrams and management professor Bonnie Hayden Chang discussing |
| 0:23.1 | why kindness at work isn't simply about being nice. Learn from Bonnie's insightful research on why |
| 0:29.4 | she's calling for a return on kindness for organizations and how you and your teams can implement |
| 0:36.2 | more kindness for better business results. |
| 0:39.3 | Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast hosted by Matt Abrams that explores the importance of communication at work and what insights you can learn to improve how you communicate. |
| 0:50.6 | I hope you enjoy this episode. |
| 0:52.8 | In business and in communication, we focus too much on return on investment instead of looking at return on kindness. |
| 1:01.0 | My name's Matt Abrams, and I teach strategic communication at Stanford Graduate School of Business. |
| 1:06.3 | Welcome to Think Fast, Talk Smart, the podcast. |
| 1:09.6 | Today, I look forward to speaking with Bonnie Hayden Chang. |
| 1:12.5 | Bonnie is a professor of management at City University of Hong Kong. Her research explores how |
| 1:17.3 | workplace behaviors affect interpersonal dynamics and well-being. She studies things such as |
| 1:22.2 | kindness and inclusion. She is the author of the book The Return Return on Kindness, How Kind Leadership Wins Talent, |
| 1:29.4 | earns loyalty, and builds successful companies. Welcome, Bonnie. I am super excited to have you here, |
| 1:34.9 | and it's great to be in Hong Kong. Welcome to Hong Kong. I'm thrilled to be here. Thanks. Shall we get |
| 1:39.2 | started? Yes. Your work focuses on kindness and its impact on work. Can you define what you mean by kindness and share some of the value it can provide to all of us in the workplace? |
| 1:49.1 | Absolutely. So in the book, I actually focus on kindness and leadership. So I define kind leadership as taking intentional action in service to and for the betterment of the people under your care. And this touches on so many different aspects that a leader has authority over, right? It could be about making a people's day better through minor compliments or feedback or just making small chit-chat. But it could also be major changes that a leader takes on to |
| 2:18.4 | reduce administrative burdens. It's also more of a worldview because kindness isn't something |
| 2:24.3 | that you just do when you enter the workplace. It's something that you really have to take on |
... |
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