The Kind Academic

A guest post by Claudia Crosariol

From Gabi: I’m delighted to welcome Claudia Crosariol, Director of Program Operations & Student Experience at Lifelong Learning @ UNSW, as our guest contributor. Claudia and I connected through the UNSW Kindness Network, a community bringing together like-minded university colleagues. In “Kindness as Leadership: Seeing the Human in the System,” she explores how compassionate acts represent a powerful form of leadership that acknowledges our humanity within institutional structures.

A colleague’s LinkedIn post recently caught my attention – she shared a touching photo of a thoughtful care package left on her desk after a workplace injury, complete with coffees, lip balm, perfume, and a handwritten “get well soon” note from her department.  

This simple act of kindness from made me pause mid-scroll. Why? Because I see it as a particular kind of leadership – a type which speaks to us as people and not cogs of a system; the leader who sees a person in need and acts, the leader who reflects on an action and gives thanks. Saying ‘I see you’ is a powerful action, to give and receive. 

To me this act demonstrates so much less of a stand-and-deliver transactional model, easily rocked and frequently eroded, and more of the relational approach – the kind of relationships which flex, remain curious to opportunity, take chances to evolve, and maintain resilience. Consistency of that ‘kind’ of effort builds reputations. 

Indigenous wisdom and collective care 

I’m reminded of my very, very early understanding of Indigenous Knowledges and cultural approaches [of knowing and being], of collective wellness, community discussion and consensus – of time invested in human process. There is a wise dignity in that which isn’t bought and cannot be sold. 

This is the power of the active bystander. We see things (even more so if we LOOK for them, see Martin Seligman on positive psychology) everywhere, anywhere, where people can be helped, buoyed, given benefit of the doubt, or shielded while they find their way. This way of seeing changes the way we think (the ‘helper’s high’).  

Redefining Success Through Kindness 

I am reminded that one who “takes responsibility for improving lives” is living a great life.  

If we think of purpose as enabling rather than gaining, we are feeding our sense of value and purpose. As ‘success’ is increasingly viewed through a lens considering so much more than money; as ongoing economic growth is seen as both unrealistic and unsatisfying to a vast tranche of humanity, kindness is reflective of something more enduring, more true? 

Perhaps, then, the greatest leadership we can offer isn’t found in grand strategies or metrics, but in these small moments of seeing one another – when kindness becomes not just what we feel, but what we do. #KindnessAsAVerb