I am delighted to interview Juliana Macedo (Ju), The Long Game Mindset Coach (ACC), for the “Leading with Kindness” segment. Juliana is an executive and leadership coach who partners with leaders to unlock peak performance. Originally from Brazil and now based in the UK, she works with clients around the globe and speaks English, Portuguese, and Italian fluently. Beyond her coaching work, Juliana is a marathon runner, a proud stepmother of two, and happily married. She’s a woman of depth and insight, and I’m excited to share our conversation with you. I asked Juliana a few questions relating to kindness, health and community that I hope will spark inspiration on your journey of transformation, starting today.

Can you share a  “kindness moment or memory”  that left a positive impression on you?

My grandmother was an immigrant from Portugal who came to Brazil with her family to flee poverty and famine. She was loved by her parents, and they had shelter, but they had very little. She had to begin working at nine and often was fed and clothed thanks to the kindness of strangers. Though she never learned to read or write, she understood how to raise a family—and how to help others—with the same love and kindness she once received.
Despite raising nine children in difficult conditions, she took in two more who had even less, feeding and clothing them as her own. If one of her children had an extra pair of shoes, she gave it to who had none. No one ever complained, not even when dinner was just a banana chunk to share. Her kindness wasn’t sentimental—it was courageous, generous, and fiercely human. It shaped our entire family. It shaped me.

How does Kindness relate to your health or better life outcomes?

People struggle to be kind to themselves, especially high performers. Learning to cultivate my inner kind voice changed how I lead, live, and recover.
Instead of pushing through exhaustion or being harsh when I fall short, I’ve learned to be kind to myself by pausing, replenishing, and realigning. This one shift has been key to managing stress and unlocking the energy, clarity, and emotional bandwidth I need to do meaningful work. And also to become a marathon runner. It was one of the most important internal muscles I developed to build a life and work I love. 

That’s why I encourage my clients to reflect about what would change if their inner voice led with kindness instead of criticism?

How have you managed to build connections and community when life can get very busy?

With intention. Connection doesn’t require quantity—it requires presence. I focus on the quality of my attention, how deeply I listen, and how meaningfully I show up in each interaction.
That includes scheduling time for the people I care about and being fully present when I’m with them. Even small moments can nourish strong relationships when approached with care.

We are all relational beings, we need to be and feel connected. So a key question I encourage leaders to consider is where in their life could presence matter more than time?

Do you think it is possible to be kind and successful at the same time?

Absolutely. Not only is it possible to be kind and successful—they often go hand in hand.
When you’re kind to yourself, you build the emotional capacity to lead others with strength and presence. Kindness isn’t weakness—it’s a foundation for psychological safety, trust, and high performance. It changes the quality of connection, making collaboration more effective and feedback more actionable. In that sense, kindness isn’t just compatible with success—it’s a catalyst for it.

Leaders would benefit from exploring what would shift in their leadership if they treated kindness as a performance driver, not a personality trait?

What is most challenging about being kind in business?

Defining kindness is the real challenge, because it’s not the same as being nice.
Kindness in leadership means acting with clarity, compassion, and courage. It’s giving honest feedback, holding people accountable, and making tough decisions with empathy. It requires emotional regulation, not emotional avoidance. Many confuse kindness with people-pleasing, but true kindness serves long-term trust and growth, not short-term comfort.

I often challenge leaders to consider where in their leadership they are choosing comfort over clarity, and calling it kindness?

What are your approaches to being kind? For example, how do you manage tensions or boundaries with kindness?

Kindness isn’t about avoiding tension—it’s about how you move through it.
The approach I believe in is to lead with clarity and care at the same time. That means being honest, even when it’s uncomfortable, and setting boundaries without guilt. Kindness shows up in how I regulate myself under pressure, how I listen when it’s hard, and how I stay committed to both the relationship and the result. It’s not soft—it’s steady. Having been a leader myself, I know this isn’t easy at all. But I also know a leader who works on improving this ability can unlock their team’s highest performance.

The key for a leader is to start noticing when tension rises, do they default to control, withdrawal, or clarity with care?

If you could advise your younger self about kindness, what would it be?

I’d tell my younger self that kindness isn’t about being liked or keeping the peace. It’s about staying connected to yourself and others, even when things are messy. The real power of kindness is that it allows growth without shame and connection without performance.

I wonder what would have been different if my young self was able to ask herself: what part of me most needs kindness right now—not to stay the same, but to grow?

If you would like to connect with Juliana and find out more about her work, you can find her on LinkedIn.