Today, I ‘m talking to Bob Klaber - a charismatic London paediatrician, who is making an impact globally by building a global movement for kindness.

Like ‘Whose Shoes’, Bob is exploring a topic that could be regarded as ‘soft and fluffy’, and bringing it centre stage. Bob’s kindness movement was featured at the World 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://youtu.be/ghI7eMq1NfQ

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