Kindness at work is not the same as being nice.

In this special one-year anniversary episode of The Specialist GP, we welcome back the podcast’s very first guest, Dr Nicki Macklin, to explore kindness in healthcare, leadership and the supervisor–supervisee relationship.

We explore what kindness really looks like when we are busy, under pressure and responsible for supporting other people’s learning and development.

We discuss the difference between kindness and niceness, why trust needs to come before difficult conversations, and how we can use coaching, feedback and early intervention to support people while maintaining standards.

We also challenge the idea that kindness is simply an individual quality, and consider how we can build kindness into the way our workplaces and organisations are designed.

A practical conversation about supervision, leadership, feedback and creating workplaces where people can learn, speak up and do their best work.

Practical clinical pearls.

First, kindness is not the same as niceness. Sometimes the kindest thing we can do is have the difficult conversation, set a boundary or give honest feedback.

Second, kindness is something we build into our systems. Protected supervision time, clear expectations and regular check-ins create the structure for people to do well.

Third, trust is built before it is needed. The small, everyday interactions are what make difficult conversations safer when they eventually need to happen.

Fourth, silence is not neutral. Avoiding a difficult conversation may feel easier in the moment, but it can leave people anxious, prevent learning and allow problems to continue.

Fifth, different situations need different conversations. Coaching, feedback and intervention are not the same thing, and knowing which one is needed is an important part of good supervision.

Sixth, directness can be kinder than vague reassurance. Be specific about what happened, the impact it had and what needs to happen next.

Lastly, Good supervision is a shared system responsibility. Power matters in supervision. The person with less power should not be expected to carry the burden of fixing a poor supervisory relationship. Supervisors and organisations have a responsibility to create safe, supportive and accountable supervision.

If the relationship is not working, seek support outside the immediate supervisory relationship. A professional mentor, another supervisor or a trusted peer can help you work out what is happening, consider your options and decide how best to move forward.

Resources:

· Macklin N, Lee TH, Edmondson AC. Why kindness isn’t a nice to have. Harvard Business Review. 2025 Jul 29.

· Macklin N, Rapana N, Wilkinson-Meyers L, Dowell A. He Aroha Whakatō, He Aroha Puta Mai. Embedding kindness in organisational practice: lessons from a kaupapa Māori primary care team. Kōtuitui. 2026;21(3). doi:10.1002/kot2.70056.

· Macklin N, Wilkinson-Meyers L, Dowell A. Defining kindness in healthcare: perspectives from international experts. SSM Health Syst. 2026;7:100270. doi:10.1016/j.ssmhs.2026.100270.

· Goode S, Hodge G, Cross D. A guide in undertaking core clinical supervision: supervisors’ experiences in implementing core clinical supervision in general practice. Practice Nursing. 2025;36(1):19-25. doi:10.12968/pnur.2025.36.1.19.

· Ingham G, Johnson C. GP supervisors in Australia: a cornerstone in need of repair. Med J Aust. 2022;216(4):178-181. doi:10.5694/mja2.51411.

· Wearne S, Dornan T, Teunissen PW, Skinner T. General practitioners as supervisors in postgraduate clinical education: an integrative review. Med Educ. 2012;46(12):1161-1173. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2923.2012.04348.x.

· O’Sullivan B, Hickson H, Kippen R, Wallace G. Exploring attributes of high-quality clinical supervision in general practice through interviews with peer-recognised GP supervisors. BMC Med Educ. 2021;21:441. doi:10.1186/s12909-021-02882-7.

· ten Cate O. Entrustability of professional activities and competency-based training. Med Educ. 2005;39(12):1176-1177. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2929.2005.02341.x.

· Dwyer M, Griffin P, Rouhi M, Waddingham S, O’Brien L, Prior S. Junior doctors’ experiences of workplace bullying, harassment and discrimination in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand: a scoping review. ANZ J Surg. 2026;96(1-2):37-47. doi:10.1111/ans.70323.

About Dr Nicki Macklin:

Nicki is a researcher, consultant, and speaker who explores how organisations can design systems and structures that sustain kindness and human connection at work.

Her PhD, through the University of Auckland's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, was among the world's first doctoral studies on organisational kindness in healthcare. She is a former occupational therapist, with a background in quality improvement management and innovative service design in primary care, and has spent many years as a patient and whānau advocate both in Aotearoa and overseas. Nicki is currently an Associate Editor at BMJ Leader, where she leads its Kindness and Human Connection stream, and a visiting scholar and guest lecturer at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals including the British Medical Journal Leader and Social Sciences and Medicine, and in outlets such as the Harvard Business Review, where her article with Amy Edmondson and Tom Lee was named one of HBR's top ten management insights of 2025.

Through her consulting practice, KindFrame, Nicki works with leaders, teams, and governance groups across healthcare, legal and business sectors, including extensive work with the health and legal professions in New Zealand and Australia. She speaks regularly on kindness as designable infrastructure rather than personality, and on what it takes to build the conditions for people to do their best work.

Listen here:

https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/kindness-supervision-leadership-w-dr-nicki-macklin/id1845748299?i=1000791893728

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5jO3CN4zlQSwytaVUAg0rS?si=d0235c0804a7438d