10 Employees Still Thinking About One Kindness at Work, After a Lost Promotion or an Awkward Screenshot

People
11/12/2026
10 Employees Still Thinking About One Kindness at Work, After a Lost Promotion or an Awkward Screenshot

Most of what happens at work is gone from memory within a week. Deadlines, meetings, that one awful spreadsheet. But ask an employee about a job they left ten years ago, and they’ll probably tell you about the day a person there noticed they weren’t okay. Nobody asked that person to step in. They just did.

It isn’t always the one with “leadership” in their job title. Sometimes it’s a manager. Just as often it’s the employee two desks over who caught something everyone else missed. That kind of compassion builds a loyalty no bigger salary can match, and a single act of kindness can shape a workplace more than the whole Human Resources handbook.

1.

30+ years ago, my ex called me at work (rows of cubicles) to tell me he wasn’t sending my child support or the extra money he promised for warm clothing since the weather had turned cold unexpectedly. My co-workers overheard, collected money among themselves and went shopping on their lunch break for a coat, hat, mittens, sweatsuits, and socks for my 1-year-old son. Openly sobbed at their kindness.

2.

I found my boss on a dating app and screenshotted it for my bestie. Seconds later, I saw I’d sent it to our team chat. I deleted it, but half the team had already seen it, including him. He typed, then stopped.

He replied that night. My stomach turned when I read it: “I want all of you to know I saw this. Yes, that’s me. My wife and I separated in May, and I’m still figuring this out. Let’s show each other some compassion and not make it weird. Kate, don’t worry about it.”

Then Megan from accounting texted just me: “He’s not mad. Come in tomorrow.” I didn’t believe her. At 2 AM I was still awake, typing my resignation. Her text was a small kindness, but it’s the only reason I printed that letter instead of emailing it.

In the morning, I put it on his desk. He read the first line and slid it back. “I’m not losing a good employee over a screenshot.” Later I heard the leadership team had asked him whether I should be written up. He said no. He showed me more compassion that morning than I’d shown him the night before.

Megan had seen the screenshot too. She hadn’t known he was single. A few weeks later, she asked him if he’d meet her cousin for coffee. At the holiday party, he introduced me to her as his “accidental wingwoman.”

3.

I manage a team of analysts, and I got this application for an open role recently from a guy who’s been working in my company’s warehouse for a year. Not some kind of technical position, either — he’s been slinging boxes. Still, we try to give internal candidates a little bit more of a shot, make sure they don’t get lost in the pile... And it turned out that this guy’s actually INCREDIBLY qualified. It’s just that all his analytical roles were back in his home country, and when all your experience is from abroad and in another language, it’s pretty hard to get hired.

But his skills were so relevant, and my team really liked him, and he’s picked up a crazy amount of useful knowledge in the past year. Our HR can get a little iffy about giving someone too much of a salary increase when they change roles internally, so I came at them pretty hard about not lowballing him, and they didn’t... They did let it slip to me, though, that it’ll be double what he’s making now.

I got to give him the verbal offer today, and he didn’t even wait a second before accepting. He was so stoked. I think he’s out celebrating right now, we may not be at peak warehouse efficiency tomorrow.

This is the most fun I’ve ever had hiring someone.

4.

My boss gave my promotion to the woman he was dating. He announced it at the team meeting: “She’s a better culture fit. You’re not a leader type anyway.” Everyone clapped, so I clapped too. The next morning, she asked to talk. “I was sure you’d have your resignation letter written by now.”

I stared at her in disbelief. I’d braced for a lecture, but she spoke to me with compassion. Then, she continued: “I would’ve walked out before lunch. But you came in this morning and did your job.”

She told me he’d offered her the role over dinner, before anyone else was even interviewed. “He told me it was a fast track into leadership. I said yes, and I’ve felt sick about it since. Watching you clap yesterday made it worse.”

That afternoon, she went to Human Resources, told them about the relationship and turned the promotion down. I didn’t understand why she’d risk that for an employee she barely knew. When I tried to thank her, she shrugged off the kindness like it was nothing. HR opened an investigation, and two people from leadership sat in on my interview when they reopened the role. A month later, my boss was gone, and I got the job.

She asked for a transfer to our other office. Staying on his old team would have been awkward for everyone. On her last day, she left a sticky note on my monitor: “For the record, you’re a leader type.”

5.

Once had a boss who, after seeing me do some crazy hours and fixing some important problems, took the time to find out I liked to skydive. He called the drop zone, put $1000 in my account, and gave me the rest of the week off to go jump.

His boss then questioned the wisdom of letting a key employee go risk his life for fun.

6.

I recently had a kid and have been struggling, even with my new job that pays decently. I reached out to my boss, thinking my request for overtime would be denied since I’m still in my 90-day probation. He said yes. I’m literally crying right now knowing my boss cares enough to break the rules to help.

7.

After four years at my old job, coworkers still had “team lunches” with no safe food for me to eat (common allergy). So I’d nibble an apple while they all raved about the latest takeout. Switched to a new job, told them at first morning tea of my allergy, and my boss immediately went and bought allergen-free cake. Since then, my manager + coworkers have quietly brought food we can all eat. Such a simple way to make me feel part of the team...but nearly brought me to tears.

8.

I lost my husband unexpectedly only four months after we got married, and I’d just been promoted. When I say it broke me, I’m not exaggerating: it took every bit of energy I had just to keep myself and our pets alive. I barely slept or ate. I lost pretty much all of my cognitive abilities — I couldn’t read a book for over a year, and I used to be good for at least two a week.

I stayed out of work for several months, but the truth is that I was useless for a good year and a half beyond that. My senior director and VP CARRIED me for those 18 months. And on the days I expressed how much it frustrated me that I couldn’t perform like I used to, their standard response was “even 25% of you is better than 100% of anybody else.”

They didn’t have to do that. But they did. And I will NEVER forget it.

9.

My phone stopped working. I use an app to pay for public transport, & had to beg the bus driver to let me ride to work free that morning because it was too early in the morning to get a new phone, or get a bus card from the grocery store courtesy booth.
Coworker gifted me a preloaded bus card with enough money to pay for a week’s worth of rides. We had only been working together for about four months.

10.

Yesterday the owner of my company noticed that the shoes I had on were worn through and the jeans I had on had holes in them. I was planning on getting a new pair of each on my next paycheck. Today he took me to Costco and bought me 2 new pairs of shoes, 4 new pairs of jeans, and some food.

What’s the most meaningful act of kindness or compassion you’ve seen at work, and who was behind it?

Here’s the odd part. The people behind these moments usually forget them. They covered the shift or sent the text, then went back to their desk and got on with their day. It’s the person on the other end who remembers, sometimes for a whole career. Plenty of us can name the coworker who showed us real compassion long after we’ve forgotten the company name on an old paycheck.

Company culture gets discussed in meetings and printed on posters in the break room. In practice, it mostly comes down to whether one employee decides another person’s bad day is their business too. From the outside, that kindness usually looks small. And some of the leadership in the stories above came from people who didn’t manage anyone at all.

Comments

Get notifications
Lucky you! This thread is empty,
which means you've got dibs on the first comment.
Go for it!

Related Reads