Fighting With Kindness

Everything Everywhere All At Once is my favourite film from the last decade. This scene in particular hit me very hard. I found myself thinking about it for weeks afterwards. It’s not often we see strong male characters depicted like this in our entertainment.

I related to Ke Huy Quan’s character Waymond Wang. Here was a man who went out of his way to show kindness and empathy in every aspect of his life. In fact, we saw many different versions of Waymond from different universes. Although the paths they took in life were different, they all had a strong core of kindness in their hearts. In fact, it’s a financially successful version of Waymond that gives the speech about how being “soft” isn’t a weakness.

When I choose to see the good side of things, I’m not being naive. It is strategic and necessary. It’s how I’ve learned to survive through everything.

I know you see yourself as a fighter. Well, I see myself as one too. This is how I fight.

Being a leader is hard. You're managing the careers and in some cases personal lives of those that report in to you. Over time it can start to wear on you. It’s both rewarding and incredibly difficult. So we have a choice to make. Do we let ourselves become more cynical and pessimistic? Or do we continue to work harder at improving ourselves and being kind to those around us? And it is a choice. We’re choosing to act in a way that is different than what the author David Foster Wallace called “our default setting”.

Becoming an empathetic leader requires a willingness to develop and practice these skills over time. It's not about being a pushover or neglecting responsibilities—it's about forging meaningful connections, valuing people as individuals, and creating a nurturing environment where everyone can be their authentic selves without fear of reprisal.