I am grateful to interview Mags Hizon, an accredited leadership coach and respected HR leader. Known for her genuine presence, thoughtful approach, and quiet strength, Mags is celebrated by many as a remarkable listener and a trusted guide. She’s brought her expertise to global and regional HR roles, working with diverse teams and business leaders across Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and her beloved Philippines. Mags speaks with deep appreciation for the mentors and colleagues who shaped her journey at Unilever, Coca-Cola, and IBM. Above all, she draws daily inspiration from her husband and two children, who fill her life with love, joy, and gratitude. 

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

I studied in a university that required me to take long daily commutes from home by public transport.  One day, as I finished the final exams for the semester, I suffered a very bad gastric illness and could barely walk due to dehydration, and therefore unable to make my usual commute home.  There were no mobile phones yet during that time, so I could not easily contact my parents to fetch me.  One of my uni friends, Geraldine, offered to bring me to her house, which was right across the road from the school campus, so I could rest and use their home phone to call my parents.  It took several hours before my parents came to fetch me from Geraldine’s home – but during the long hours of waiting, her mother whom we fondly called Tita Nena, prepared a bed for me to lay in, cooked soup to warm my stomach, and made me feel like it was my own home.  My gastric illness was quite severe and I had bouts of vomiting and diarrhea, which did not make it an easy situation for Tita Nena and her nice home. 

This incident probably took place more than 34 years ago, but I still have very vivid recollection of the kindness and care from Tita Nena.

  I have always been a very shy person and always embarrassed to trouble others about my needs – but during that time, I was too weak to refuse help, and more importantly too grateful that she was there to care for me.  I will never forget this event because it was one of the few times that I felt someone was so kind to me without expecting anything in return. 

Tita Nena’s home was always open to me and to all the other friends of her daughter Geraldine, not only during medical emergencies but also for any other time that we just needed a safe space to hang out.  I have tried to do the same for my daughter’s friends when she was uni, but I don’t think I could ever match Tita Nena’s generosity.

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

For me, kindness is an organic mood boost.  I always feel uplifted whenever I feel someone has been kind to me, or when I know I have been kind to others.  I believed Pope Francis when he said that “Life is good when you are happy; but much better when others are happy because of you.”  There have been so many small moments of kindness that add up to great outcomes. 

For example, all I can remember about my grandmother when she was still alive, is how she spoke with me with love and gentle words every day during my early childhood years – which to this day inspire me to be loving and caring in the way I interact with my own grown-up son and daughter. 

I was raised by my grandmother who was an English teacher in a primary school.  I recall that she was quite disciplined, tidy, hardworking and frugal – the same traits that have been instilled in me and helped me gain some success in school and at work.  Now as a parent, I believe I have passed on the same set of traits to my own children whilst having a very loving relationship with them, which I feel I have done so by emulating my grandmother’s kind and gentle ways.  I would have associated discipline and rigor with harshness and punishment, but thanks to my grandmother, I had a real-life role model of how kindness in every day can inspire success in life.

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

I am an introverted person. Thankfully,  I have been gifted with close friends and colleagues who love initiating the connections, which range from deep conversations over cups of coffee or dinner, to a series of back-and-forth SMS to share life updates.  While I do not always initiate the conversations, I always make the time and effort to be there at each time that someone reaches out. 

I believe that the best gift I could give to anyone is my undivided time and attention whenever they need me the most.

I am an accredited Leadership Coach and I have been providing free coaching sessions to young leaders during weekday evenings. It is not always easy to make time for people outside of my own family, but I feel good whenever I do because it expands my world view and allows me to share my life with others.  I have also been fortunate to have worked in various teams and organizations which provided natural opportunities and structured ways to interact with people with different perspectives and approaches to work and life.  This is the main reason why I continue to pursue new job prospects, whether in a new organization or in another country.  I feel that through my work in HR, I get to reach a broad community and I’m able to tap into a boundless source of learning.  

What is most challenging about being kind in business? 

The most challenging is when kindness becomes viewed as weakness or lack of leadership.  In one of my performance appraisals several years ago, my boss said that my biggest Improvement Area as a line manager was that I always sided with the underdog, that I was too kind.  I was too confused to even ask what she meant by that feedback, as I had always felt that my kindness was both inherent and a strength.  I struggled for a while about this, but on hindsight, I’m glad I did not spend any more time discussing this feedback with her – whilst it took me several years to fully accept that there is nothing wrong about being genuinely kind, I have come to embrace the parts of me that people could criticize as being “too kind.”  Kindness does not change what needs to be done to achieve business success – but how things are done can create a powerful impact.  Experience has taught me that leadership is not always loud or grand or feisty. 

Sometimes the strongest leader is the one who can be kind to others amidst the most challenging situations, as this allows space for people to contribute in situations where multiple ideas can generate creative solutions.  Kindness is being truthful, no matter how tough, but in ways that also show care.

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

I have been in situations where I had to show kindness to people who were angry towards me – which meant that I had to listen first to what they had to say even if what they were saying hurt me, and by doing this I allowed them space to feel safe.  I have done this many times, but mostly in relationships that I have decided to invest in – whether close personal relationships or long-term relationships at work.  Outside of these,

I would show kindness during tension or conflicts by keeping quiet until I found words that I felt would help the other person come back to a reasonable conversation; or times when I probably was not at my best to listen, but I found that my silence allowed the other party to also pause and reflect.

In these situations that I described, my approach to kindness has been that of a conscious choice.  Most of the time, kindness does beget kindness.  I believe that all human beings have this innate kindness, but we do not always know the ways to express this outwardly in different situations – it is quite challenging as it sometimes requires conscious effort or practice, or some kind of habit that’s built from a combination of self-awareness and empathy towards others. 

The self-awareness bit is very important because it gives me signals when to step back, or perhaps disengage when needed.  In these instances, kindness required mindfulness – because even in moments where there is genuine intent to be kind, negative emotions can take over if I am not mindful enough.  

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

I would advise my younger self that it can be lonely if you expect anything in return from being kind to others, because kindness is not always reciprocated.  But you learn to genuinely express kindness without any expectation. In that case, it is not only good for others but also for yourself, because it will build courage, generosity and belief in the goodness of human beings.

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