Integrity Ideas are practical actions toward implementing a bigger WHY for the organization.  We believe some are critical (and necessary) steps in the RENEW/RE-ALIGN/RE-IMAGINE/RESTORE process.  Others are just ideas to be considered if they feel like a good fit based on what leaders prayerfully discern is best for stewarding the organization toward its WHY.

Because the practicality of implementing “Cultivating Customer Kindness” depends on the nature of the business and the customer relationship, we put it in the “if it fits” category.

Integrity Ideas are specific actions a leader can consider during the Re-Align step of Integriosity^®–actions that will begin to Re-Align the organization with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities.  You can find more Integrity Ideas at Integrous | Integrity Ideas (integriosity.com)

INTEGRITY IDEA: Cultivate Customer Kindness

“Cultivate Customer Kindness” is about implementing practices that create opportunities for customers to engage in acts of “kindness” toward employees and the community.  It recognizes that an organization can love and serve its customers by making it easy for them to love and serve others.

Back in post #186 (Integrity Idea 031: Catalyze “Kindness”), we focused on cultivating an organizational culture in which people within the organization are encouraged to engage in acts of “kindness” toward co-workers, customers, suppliers and the community.  Now we are focused on creating ways to unleash in customers the God-given desire to love others.

As we said back in post #186, we believe “kindness” is an expression of the “first-order beliefs” God has written on the heart of every human and that people become more fully human when they act in alignment with God’s divine design.  Theologian and pastor Tim Keller wrote:

People have innate consciences that are preloaded with senses of honesty, justice, love, the Golden Rule, and so on. . .. This universal knowledge of God and of good—this aspect of natural revelation—has been called “first-order beliefs.” All people hold these beliefs at some level, even if their conscious, intellectual, culturally conditioned “second-order beliefs” deny them utterly.

The world’s culture says, “take care of yourself”. In fact, the deception of the kingdom of the world is so pervasive that a substantial majority of Americans and a majority of evangelical Christians apparently believe that Benjamin Franklin’s aphorism “God helps those who help themselves” is a Biblical quote (several years ago, George Barna reported that 82% of Americans held that belief).

The truth of the Kingdom of God is that God designed (Imago Dei) and even commanded people to love others.  In the words of Dr. Skip Moen:

If I am going to become human, I must move in the direction of the divine design in me. . ..  I can move toward God’s design innately implanted in me, or I can move away from His design, forging a self-made creature fashioned by lesser purposes.  I am equipped to manifest God’s design.  He has insured that I lack nothing necessary for this project. . ..  In a fallen world . . . the world itself in under the power and influence of the inhuman. The systems of this world are designed to remove your humanity because they are designed to remove you from a relationship with your Creator.  Whatever is self-driven leads to inhuman behavior.  True humanity is found in humble submission to the Creator.  The closer I get to selfless obedience, the more human I become. 

“Cultivate Customer Kindness” loves customers by creating opportunities for customers to turn away from the “inhuman” and toward the “human”.

Because engaging in acts of kindness can increase the flourishing of both the person engaging in the act of kindness as well as the person benefitting from it, “Cultivate Customer Kindness” furthers an important element of leading with faithful integrity through business a better way–the pursuit of Biblical flourishing (rather than Profit as Purpose) as the “end” to which the organization is managed.

If we think about the six key domains of flourishing identified by the Harvard Program on Human Flourishing in its human flourishing index, helping people be “kind” could impact at least four and possibly five of the six:  Domain 1–Happiness and Life Satisfaction; Domain 3–Meaning and Purpose; Domain 4–Character and Virtue; Domain 5–Close Social Relationships; and possibly Domain 2–Mental and Physical Health.

Core to faithful integrity are Imago Dei, the two great commandments (love God and love your neighbor), and God’s model of love as giving and serving generously.  A faithful leader seeking to lead with faithful integrity through business a better way is called not only to live out those principles and commandments but also to find ways to encourage others to do so as well. Hebrews 10:24 instructs:

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.

“Cultivate Customer Kindness” is a way to love employees and customers by providing opportunities for them to express love to others–employees to customers (by providing kindness opportunities for customers) and customers to employees and the community.

We have mentioned James Hunter, and the concept of faithful presence that he introduced in his book To Change the World, in several past posts (see particularly post #053–Loving Generously–Faithful Presence). He describes it as follows:

A theology of faithful presence calls Christians to enact the shalom of God in the circumstances in which God has placed them and to actively seek it on behalf of others. . . . What this means is that where and to the extent that we are able, faithful presence commits us to do what we can to create conditions in the structures of social life we inhabit that are conducive to the flourishing of all.

Let’s look once again at some key ideas in Hunter’s description:

• Enact the Shalom of God.  “Shalom” does not just mean “peace”. At Integrous, we define Shalom as “an environment in which truth, beauty and goodness are valued and people and institutional cultures flourish by doing what God designed them to do in the way God designed them to do it—assisting in God’s restorative plan for His Kingdom by adding to its beauty“.

• Where God Has Placed You.   Faithful presence and loving your neighbor do not require you to go on a mission trip to a developing nation or volunteer at a soup kitchen (though you may well choose to do those worthwhile things as a way of loving your neighbor).  In fact, faithful presence is much more demanding!  It is one thing to do a once-per-year (or once-in-a-lifetime) “mission vacation” and feel like you have checked off “love your neighbor”, but it is quite another to begin living it out where God has placed you–at work and in the marketplace–EVERY DAY.

• Actively Seek It On Behalf of Others.  Faithful presence is not about creating our own personal paradise of Shalom.  It is derived from love your neighbor, which means it is about creating environments of Shalom that benefit everyone, whether or not they share your faith.

• Create Conditions in the Structure of Social Life. Faithful presence is not just about loving individuals.  It is about transforming social structures, which includes organizations, businesses, departments, working groups.  In To Change the World, Hunter argues that cultures change through institutions more than through individuals.  Where God has given you influence over or in a social structure such as a business, love your neighbor commands you to do what you can to move it toward Shalom.  We believe that means embracing Hebrews 10:24 and taking steps to “stir up” others.

• Conducive To the Flourishing of All.  Faithful presence and Shalom are about human flourishing, and they are about promoting and facilitating flourishing for EVERYONE in the social structures you or your organization touches.

For a faithful leader seeking to lead with faithful integrity, “Cultivate Customer Kindness” is also part of living out faithful presence–enacting Shalom where they are, for the benefit of all–by embedding Biblical concepts of relationships, community and human dignity into the organization’s culture in a way that impacts all people touched by the organization.

Once again turning to the wise, eloquent and challenging writings of Skip Moen:

When I am called to shepherd (the role of the leader), I am expected to nourish my neighbor.  It is the flock at hand that is my first assignment as a representative of the King. . .. God is a neighborhood God.  He has great plans but they are accomplished in small circles.  One person’s obedience can change the whole world – one neighbor at a time.

CONTINUUM: Practices

The Integriosity model organizes “heart change” along six Covert-Overt Continuums.  There is nothing magic about these categories, but we believe they are helpful in thinking about practical execution of a Re-Imagined Purpose, Re-Imagined Values and a Re-Imagined Culture.  The Continuums are Prayer, Proclamation, Policies, Practices, Products, People.

Each Continuum represents an area in which leaders can begin to think about, plan and institute Re-Alignment changes to the heart of the organization.

“Cultivate Customer Kindness” is on the Practices Continuum.  It involves practices the organization can adopt to affirm its commitment to Biblical flourishing and the Biblical principles of Imago Dei, the Golden Rule and love your neighbor, to reflect and reinforce a culture that prioritizes relationships, community, human dignity and flourishing, and the bigger WHYs of Humanizing People Beautifying the World and Glorifying God.

COVERT-OVERT RATING: Highly Covert

The Integriosity model breaks the Covert-Overt Continuums into six gradations–from Highly Covert to Highly Overt–that we believe are helpful in beginning to pray and think about what is most appropriate for an organization at a particular moment in time.

Most Integrity Ideas will have one place on the scale.  Some can vary depending on how they are implemented.   “Cultivate Customer Kindness” is Highly Covert (an action that would be taken by a secular company), because even a secular organization is likely to a benefit in looking “benevolent” to its customers.  “Kindness” and “generosity” are not generally seen as religious concepts even though they are how the Bible calls us to live.

“Cultivate Customer Kindness” could also be Overt or even Highly Overt if the faithful leader chooses to explain the practice in terms of the organization’s WHY and Biblical beliefs, principles or priorities.

STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees, Customers/Clients, Community

When we categorize faith-based actions, we also consider the stakeholders principally impacted by the action: Employees, Customers/Clients, Owners, Suppliers/Vendors, Community and Kingdom.

“Cultivate Customer Kindness” serves three principal groups of stakeholders: Employees, Customers/Clients, Community.  It serves Employees by giving them an opportunity to love Customers/Clients as well as the Community (and fellow Employees) by offering opportunities for Customers/Clients to become more fully human through acts of kindness toward Employees and the Community.  It serves Customers/Clients by providing those opportunities.  Finally, it serves the Community and Employees as the beneficiaries of those acts of kindness.

IMPLEMENTATION

The ability to implement “Cultivate Customer Kindness” will depend upon the nature of the organization’s business and its customer relationships.  How it is implemented is limited only by the creativity and prayerful discernment of its faithful leaders.  However it is implemented, the WHY behind the initiative must authentically be principally about loving and serving the customer and only secondarily about the beneficiaries of their kindness.  The customer must be the end and not the means–the purpose and not a tool.

We think it is helpful to consider implementation in three categories: Appreciation, Service and Generosity.

Appreciation

We think of the opportunity for kindness through appreciation as mainly about coming up with easy and positive ways for customers to express their appreciation for the organization’s employees.  Again, the employees are beneficiaries, but the focus for the purpose of “Cultivate Customer Kindness” is about the customer experience.

The challenge for faithful leaders is to think creatively about how to make it easy for the customer to provide positive feedback in a way that feels like they are bestowing a blessing rather than experiencing a burden.  In some sense, it is extending Michael Stallard’s Connection Culture ideas to embrace customers. Stallard identified three key elements that lead to people feeling connected: Vision, Value and Voice.

Vision: “Cultivate Customer Kindness” could engage customers in the Vision of loving and caring for employees by recognizing their unique gifts and contributions. That would require sharing the organization’s Vision in ways that capture the hearts of customers.

Value: A “Cultivate Customer Kindness” initiative could show customers they are Valued for their ability to contribute to that greater Vision and not just for their business.

Voice: Finally, such an initiative, by definition, gives customers a Voice by recognizing that they are in the best position to experience and applaud the good works of the organization’s employees.

Customer feedback about anything is often difficult and unsatisfying.  How easy is it to find a manager or even a suggestion box to share exemplary service? Does a customer who goes through the trouble of sharing positive feedback through a supervisor or suggestion box wonder if their feedback was acted upon or even shared with the employee?  Does making it difficult to provide feedback ensure that most feedback comes from those angry enough to persevere?

An Appreciation-focused initiative is about making it easy and satisfying for a customer to “love” an employee.

Service

When we think of a service-focused initiative to implement “Cultivate Customer Kindness”, it is about inviting customers into community service projects organized or sponsored by the organization, most likely along-side the organization’s employees.  This could include opportunities such as:

• Facilitating customer participation in fundraising events like walks or races organized by local, national or international charities.

• Organizing fundraising events with customer participation to support a local, national or international cause.

• Coordinating volunteer opportunities with local, national or international charities.

It is about creating easy opportunities for customers to “love” their neighbors and communities.

Giving

Giving-focused initiatives involve thinking of ways to tap into the “first order” inclination to love others through generosity.  Again, it is important for any such initiative to be an opportunity for a customer to feel like they are bestowing a blessing rather than feel like they are being burdened–or even worse coerced.  Here are a few ideas to spark creativity and reflection:

• Round-Up Campaigns. The perfect example of a generosity initiative in which the customer is probably the means rather than the end–the tool rather than the purpose–is the now ubiquitous practice of retail stores, particularly grocery stores, asking people to “round-up” their purchase or “add a dollar” for a charity.   Much has been written about how this has become an annoyance, but the best proof is that it was the subject of a South Park episode (see a below for a link to the clip).

• Pay It Forward Initiatives. A much better example is the Neopolitan practice of Caffe Sospeso or “Suspended Coffee”.  The New York Times described it as “a Neapolitan tradition that boomed during World War II and has found a revival in recent years during hard economic times.”  The practice involves the purest expression of generosity because it is customer-initiated and anonymous between giver and beneficiary.  When ordering a coffee for themselves, a customer orders a “suspended coffee”, paying for a second coffee that the cafe “holds” for a customer unable to pay.  It has led to creative variations.

• In 2013, a person was inspired by the suspended coffee tradition and launched an initiative to get coffee shops around the world to participate (it is unclear how many signed on).

• In a twist on the suspended coffee tradition, a shopkeeper in England gave free products to customers unable to pay and pinned the receipts to a “pay later” wall.  Other patrons could volunteer to pay the receipts.

• In yet another twist, a coffee shop in Lynchburg, VA has a “Pay It Forward” board that allows customers to purchase a gift card (held by the shop) and post a note saying what was purchased and for whom it is intended (e.g., a veteran, a first-responder, a senior citizen, or someone in need).  Anyone matching the donor’s intention can bring the note up and collect the gift.

• Yet another twist featured in numerous Facebook posts is a wall at Tina’s Grill in Aurora, Ontario, covered in pinned receipts under signs that read “If you are hungry and have no money, these meals have been paid for in advance.  Give a server the ticket and they will have the kitchen prepare your meal.” Customers can pin a receipt for meals they purchased but did not take.  Any person in need can take a receipt off the board and collect the food.  In addition, the owner matches any donations. Tina’s has run this pay it forward initiative at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Similar “buy-one/give-one” initiatives could be applied to almost any product.  For example, a Broadway-style musical about the life of Jesus called His Story: The Musical was exploring how to implement a “buy one/give one” initiative with tickets as a way to let people anonymously sponsor an attendee who otherwise could not afford to see the show.

• Matching Campaigns.  An organization could “Cultivate Customer Kindness” by matching contributions to a local cause, whether contributions of money or contributions of the organization’s products.  For example, if a customer buys an article of clothing for a homeless shelter, the organization will send two.  (This is different from the type of program made famous by Toms shoes in which they donate a pair of shoes for every purchase. It is different because the customer is one-step removed from the generosity.)

Like all Integrity Ideas, “Cultivate Customer Kindness” requires prayerful discernment by faithful leaders.  Prayer for creativity.  Prayer for a heart of generosity.  Prayer for authenticity.  In the words of Theodore Roosevelt, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”   Just don’t end up on South Park!

PERSONAL NOTE (from PM):  This post was originally inspired a few years ago watching an episode of Stanley Tucci’s travel and food show called Searching for Italy.   Over 14 episodes, Tucci explored 14 regions of Italy, highlighting the food and culture of each region.  The first episode was about Naples and the Amalfi Coast, and in that episode Tucci introduced the audience to the Neapolitan tradition of Caffe Sospeso or Suspended Coffee.  I was also inspired by my brother’s anonymous generosity.  When in a restaurant, he will sometimes be moved to bless another diner.  For example, it might be a first responder or an elderly couple.  When that happens, he quietly arranges to pay for their meal with strict instructions that they are not to be told who paid.  In that sense, “Cultivate Customer Kindness” is providing opportunities for people to be anonymous angels.  I think very few people are like my brother–recognizing an opportunity and acting upon it.  “Cultivate Customer Kindness” is about creating the opportunity and then making it easy to see and act upon.

ESSENCE:  Integrity Ideas are specific practical actions a faithful leader can consider in leading faithfully through business a better way.

INTEGRITY IDEA: Cultivate Customer Kindness

COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action):  Practices

COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly Covert

STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees, Customers/Clients, Community

“Cultivate Customer Kindness” is about implementing practices that create opportunities for customers to engage in acts of “kindness” toward employees and the community.  It recognizes that “kindness” is an expression of the “first-order beliefs” God has written on the heart of every human and that people become more fully human when they act in alignment with God’s divine design.  Because engaging in acts of kindness can increase the flourishing of both the person engaging in the act of kindness as well as the person benefitting from it, “Cultivate Customer Kindness” furthers an important element of leading with faithful integrity through business a better way–the pursuit of Biblical flourishing (rather than Profit as Purpose) as the “end” to which the organization is managed.  Core to faithful integrity are the two great commandments (love God and love your neighbor) and God’s model of love as giving and serving generously.  A faithful leader seeking to lead with faithful integrity through business a better way is called not only to live out those commandments but also to find ways to encourage others to do so as well.  “Cultivate Customer Kindness” is a way to love employees and customers by providing opportunities for them to express love to others–employees to customers and customers to employees and the community.  For a faithful leader seeking to lead with faithful integrity, “Cultivate Customer Kindness” is part of living out “faithful presence”–enacting Shalom where they are, for the benefit of all–by embedding Biblical concepts of relationships, community and human dignity into the organization’s culture in a way that impacts all people touched by the organization.

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