Random Acts of Kindness: The Day I Met My Angel!

It was a typical Monday morning in Miami, traffic was insane! I was waiting to pull out onto a busy side street, and of course, no one would let me in. That’s how it is these days, isn’t it? Everyone is in such a rush to get where they need to go that it’s almost like no one else exists. Instead of seeing other cars as actual human beings, we see each other as obstacles to getting to where we need to be.

THEN…all-of-a-sudden, she appeared…my angel!

Not only did she stop to wave me into traffic, she followed it up with a great big smile. It wasn’t just any smile, not only was she smiling at me with her mouth, she was smiling at me with her eyes – and to be honest, it warmed the hell out of my heart!

And with that one random act of kindness, she not only restored my faith in humanity, but she also made my day – and probably without even realizing it!

What did it cost her? 5 or 10 seconds of her day? And really, possibly not even that, as a red light ahead would have brought her to a stop anyway.

Interestingly, that would not be my last interaction with my angel – more on that in a little bit.

Which brings us to the subject of today’s blog post, random acts of kindness.

The more I think about it, the more it seems like it is those unplanned, seemingly insignificant acts that are the ones that make the biggest impact on us. Wouldn’t you agree?

Why is that?

I believe part of the reason lies in the fact that we remember the extraordinary instead of the ordinary. With the amount of information that we are exposed to these days, something needs to be very different to catch our eye and make an impact on us, so that we remember it.

Interestingly, there is an equivalent to random acts of kindness in the business world, which is what we call…

‘Emphasizing Intangibles’ a.k.a. Surprise and Delight!     

In business, things that can be added to a product or service to make it memorable are called ‘intangibles’.  Oftentimes these intangibles are unexpected and a surprise to the customer, which creates a feeling of delight, invoking their emotions and thus making them memorable.

In fact, there is a marketing strategy known as ‘surprise and delight’ which is basically the same thing as the concept of emphasizing intangibles.  The idea is to do something for a customer that makes them feel special – because who doesn’t like to feel special? The end result being increased brand loyalty as well as new fans for the company.

The problem with the concept of ‘surprise and delight’ is that sometimes it comes across as contrived and self-serving. To me, the best ‘surprise and delight’ efforts just happen, it’s almost as if they are part of the company’s culture and DNA.  It is about empathy, creativity, and the empowerment of employees to do what’s right for the customer.

As a customer...

…the best types of surprise and delight moments I have had have been completely unexpected and with no strings attached – the company wanted nothing in return from me. It’s like the icing on the cake that I never saw coming.

A great example of surprise and delight comes from WestJet, a Canadian airline – Air Canada should take notes!  I remember seeing the video below a couple years ago and it really made an impact on me and I wasn’t even personally affected!

It was during the holiday season that WestJet asked passengers who were about to board a flight to share their holiday wishes via live video. As soon as the passengers boarded the flight, the WestJet staff went to work! They went on a shopping spree, fulfilling all of the customer’s wishes. When the passengers arrived at their destination, guess what was waiting for them on the baggage carousel?  Yup, all of the gifts they had wished for, it was surprise and delight at its finest.  It’s a pretty cool short video if you want to check it out:

Ok, some of you skeptics may say it was contrived and done primarily for PR value. That could very well be the case. But seeing the faces and joy of both the passengers and the WestJet employees who made it happen, I prefer to think it was done selflessly with the good PR received simply being good karma coming back to Westjet.

Surprise and Delight in Our Personal Lives = Random Acts of Kindness!

The personal version of intangibles or surprise and delight is something that many of us are familiar with and something I discussed earlier – random acts of kindness.  It is simply doing something kind for someone else without expecting anything else in return.

I believe kindness is something lacking in the world today and something we all have the ability to share.  As I said in a previous post, to me, being kind may be the most valuable trait someone can have. Who cares how successful you are, or how much money you have if you are an asshole?

Why Are Random Acts of Kindness Important?

There are so many reasons as to why random acts of kindness are important such as:

  Making other people’s days.
  Giving people hope. Sadly, many people go through the day without ever having someone say something nice to them or do something nice for them. Think about that…
  Because as I said, there isn’t enough kindness these days and it’s the right thing to do.
  To experience the joy of doing a random act of kindness!!!

And to me, the most important reason is…

  To be a leader and lead by example and teach the youth of today. Children are not only our most precious asset, but they are very impressionable. So, if they see us doing something kind for someone, they are likely going to pay it forward themselves – which will only make the world a better place for all of us and for future generations.

I remember reading about a study done by American Express where the average person in the U.S. tells 9 other people about a good customer experience they have had. Imagine if we all did a random act of kindness and the person we did it for payed it forward to just 1 other person – how amazing would that be?

Some Ideas for Random Acts of Kindness – Use it or Lose It

Just as in surprise and delight, the best random acts of kindness are unplanned – that is what makes them so special and appreciated.

Although random acts of kindness can involve money – for example, buying coffee for the person in line behind you who isn’t smiling and seems to be having a bad day – they don’t have to.

A few ideas for random acts of kindness:

  Smiling.

  Simply saying good morning to random strangers.

  Holding an elevator if you see someone coming.

  Letting someone go ahead of you at the supermarket if they only have a couple things.

  Lending or even giving someone a pen.

  Holding doors.

  Sending thank you notes.

  Helping someone carry something if you see them struggling.

I could give a million examples and I am sure you can think of a million examples yourself. The point is to just try to be a little bit kinder in these times where everyone seems to be all about themselves. And hopefully, your random act of kindness inspires the recipient to pay it forward.

Speaking of paying it forward…

A couple of days after my incident with my angel, I was heading to work at around the same time. As I was coming up to a side street, I could see a car trying to get in, yet no one was letting the car in. When I approached, I slowed down and waved the car in while giving the driver a big smile.

You will never guess who returned my smile and wave with an even bigger smile and wave, realizing it was me and that karma had come back to her…

Yup…My angel.

Until next time, keep performing those random acts of kindness, be someone’s angel, and as always…PYMFP!
–Rick

When to Use It:

  Always, there is no limit on the number of random acts of kindness you can perform. The more the better!

What Do You Think?

  Do you have a good story on random acts of kindness? Please share in the comments below!

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References

https://www.inc.com/molly-reynolds/9-companies-that-nailed-the-whole-surprise-and-del.html

http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/brands-build-loyalty-surprise-delight-strategies/298425/