Company Blog

The Dalai Lama and Kindness

by Adam Zack — July 1, 2026

“Kindness wins no trophies and shows up on no balance sheet — yet it may be the realest edge in a people business. On the difference between doing kind things and being a kind person.”

I think kindness is a real underappreciated quality. It’s not flashy, like winners are celebrated and recognized. It’s not monetary, like financial savvy. It’s not beauty, which is prized and awarded. It’s not brilliance, which distances itself from average intelligence. Kindness isn’t selfish, in fact it’s the opposite. The Dalai Lama famously said “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” I don’t even think that kindness can be turned on and off like a switch. Either you are kind, or you are not. Kind gestures, like donating to a need cause, are specific acts of kindness. They don’t anoint the the giver of a that specific kindness as necessarily a kind person. My goal in life is to practice kindness in all the little decisions and acts that I do daily that affect people. For me, it’s a goal that I won’t ever achieve 100%. There’s too many times when ego rears it’s ugly head and chooses something self-serving instead of selfless. I do believe that kindness, especially in a business that is people driven (customers, employees, vendors) offers its own reward with success in all the areas of life – business, personal relationships and comfort in knowing that kindness is not always reciprocated and very rarely recognized by the masses.