Kindness vs. Honesty

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0839/__PU9.HTM

Aside from today's scripture reading, I am also reading "Leading by Kindness" by Baker and O'Malley. Their definition of kindness focused on honesty. It isn't kind to not tell people the truth even if it is tough to hear, although there may be kinder way of addressing it than others. In education, for example, kind leaders look out for their employees, which involves the foresight to see what's coming. So when the Pennsylvania legislature allowed districts to delay retirement payments for five years, plans should have been made to pay off the 35% on time if paying 7% in a particular year proved difficult. Another deal had to be reached paying about 14% over the next 5 years since some districts paid 0% for 5 years and didn't save up 35% to pay later this school year. It would have been better to deny some requests for materials or professional development the past five years rather than taking a hatchet job to those programs now out of necessity. Other district less fortunate than mine took the hatchet to jobs this year out of necessity. That type of irresponsibility was unkind.