The Human Kind series is glad to interview Andrew Baughen who was a Strategy Consultant for financial institutions before studying theology at Oxford and becoming Vicar of St James Clerkenwell in London. Andrew has also given a great ted talk on Redefining Value: How Any Business Can Be The World’s Most Valuable. Some interesting values based insights, so please have a listen when you get a moment…

Three things Andrew is about?
1. Generosity

2. Humanity

3. Creativity

Do you have a kindness memory that left a strong impression on you?

“When I was a primary school I was the only kid in my class who couldn’t swim and it was coming up to the annual school swimming competition when everyone in the class had to swim a length (or as far as they could get) without armbands. My mum realised this was worrying me so she took me to the local pool after school and taught me herself. Now that’s not particularly striking until I explain that my mum has extreme eczema all over her body and the chlorine in the public pool made her skin flare up. “But my mum was willing to endure that pain to give me the gift of swimming”. On the day of the school competition our class all divided in and at various speeds made their way down the length of the pool until it was just me making slow and earnest progress. My parents were screaming their encouragement and when I finally got to the other end the whole crowd cheered the loudest they had all day. But for me the special moment was seeing my mum afterwards and thanking her for your love and kindness with the bogus hug ever“

What are your views on boundaries and kindness?

“Showing kindness is about looking to another person’s interests before your own. That may mean sacrifice on your part and sacrifice means going beyond the boundaries of what is expected or necessary. “It might not mean giving people what they want but definitely what they need so the boundary is their best interests for they flourishing”

Can one be an effective leader and still be kind?

“You can’t be an effective leader without being kind! “An effective leader is one who values other people and sees that they matter and that their interests matter” – an effective leader is a servant leader who thinks of others as a valuable human being rather than just a unit of production. Leaders grow people rather than use people”

Could you share a productivity tip with us?

“Do a perspective reboot every now and then. Take a break, have a coffee and think: who am I?; what am I doing this for?; who am I serving?; what is the lasting value I am looking to generate? That way we can let go of some of the irrelevant things that can obsess us or freeze us and instead be led by purpose with a clear perspective of who ultimately we are serving. For me that is the Lord Jesus and his purposes in gathering a people he loves in this world and the new creation world to come”