Book Review: “Kind Leadership” by J. Povall
“True kindness—the kind that communicates with compassion, leads with honesty (not ego), holds people accountable, and creates cultures that build self-esteem—is anything but weak. It is strong. And in school leadership, I promise that it is transformative.” (p.1)
When did kindness become confused with weakness? Some of the strongest school leaders I have worked with have also been among the kindest. Not because they avoided difficult conversations. Quite the opposite. They had them—with clarity, empathy, honesty, and courage.
That is the premise behind Joanna Povall’s excellent new book, CHASE Kindness.
Drawing from her own evolution as a school leader, Povall challenges a historical leadership model of a time that was built on toughness, decisiveness, and relentless pressure. Instead, she argues that today’s schools require something far more demanding: leaders who create cultures where people feel trusted, valued, challenged, and supported all at once.
This is a book about leading well. “Well” in some many ways: well-being, well-liked, well-followed, and looking into one’s own deep well of personal resources.
You would be interested in this book if…
- You lead people in schools and want to build a culture rather than simply manage one.
- You’re interested in the intersection of leadership, well-being, and organizational culture.
- You’ve enjoyed books such as Forward, Together by George Couros, Calm in the Chaos by Danny Bauer, PowerHouse by Greg Wells, or Hidden Potential by Adam Grant.
- You believe that accountability and kindness should strengthen—not weaken—one another.
- You’re looking for practical leadership strategies and / or a framework you can implement immediately.
Joanna’s Vulnerability
Throughout the book, Joanna is incredibly vulnerable and open with her own experiences. Here is a video explaining why she feels CHASE Kindness is so vital to the future of our schools and for our students. It is her personal anecdotes and stories that really bring this book to life for leaders.
Kindness is not soft leadership—it is disciplined leadership
One of the things I appreciated most about this book is that Joanna doesn’t simply advocate for kindness. She dismantles the myths surrounding it.
In one particularly helpful chapter, she reviews both leadership literature and neuroscience before confronting several persistent misconceptions:
- kindness leads to burnout,
- kindness is a feminine leadership trait,
- kindness lowers standards,
- kindness signals weakness,
- kindness won’t work in “my” school,
- kindness isn’t worth practising if it isn’t reciprocated.
These are myths many educational leaders quietly wrestle with. Her response is both practical and philosophical: Kindness, she argues, is not permissiveness. It requires:
- Active listening
- Clear expectations
- Healthy boundaries
- Empathy
- Self-awareness
- Reliability
- Consistency.
In other words, kindness isn’t lowering expectations, it’s raising them through relationships. That distinction feels particularly important in education today because those that we have led in the past, are not those that we lead today. Faculty have changed: Post-pandemic, teachers are looking for authenticity more than authority. They want to work with leaders who tell the truth, who admit mistakes, who genuinely listen, and who care enough to help them grow.
That requires enormous strength.
CHASE is much more than an acronym
The framework itself is elegant.
CHASE represents:
- Communication
- Honesty
- Accountability
- Self-esteem
- Ego
But what makes the framework compelling is that none of these elements operate independently.
- Communication without honesty becomes performance
- Honesty without kindness becomes brutality
- Accountability without self-esteem becomes compliance
- Self-esteem without accountability becomes entitlement
- And leadership without managing one’s Ego eventually becomes control.
Povall understands that leadership is an ecosystem, and that each element reinforces the others. One passage particularly resonated with me:
“The foundations of trust include setting boundaries, maintaining confidentiality, showing reliability, demonstrating integrity, and always approaching others without judgment… Trust is not built through big events or announcements… It is built over time and through small consistent acts.” (p.41)
This echoes one of the great truths of leadership: that culture isn’t built through strategic plans, it’s built conversation by conversation; meeting by meeting; decision by decision.
Accountability is one of the greatest forms of kindness
Perhaps my favourite chapter explores accountability. Too often accountability is viewed as the opposite of kindness. Povall convincingly argues the opposite.
“When accountability is present and delivered with kindness, people respond with growth… Accountability at its best sees the potential in others and tells them they have been noticed.” (p.74)
Reading this immediately brought me back to Adam Grant’s Hidden Potential and Zach Mercurio’s work on mattering. When leaders communicate,“I see what you’re capable of—and I’m here to help you get there,” they create something much deeper than compliance: they create commitment.
This aligns closely with what we know about motivation, discretionary effort, and purpose. People rarely rise because someone lowers the standard- they rise because someone believes they can meet it.
Leadership begins with leading yourself
The latter chapters explore self-esteem and ego, and I found them particularly valuable. Povall distinguishes carefully between the two.
Healthy self-esteem is grounded in values, confidence, and self-worth. Whereas, Ego, by contrast, seeks validation, recognition, and status. As values-based leaders myself, this distinction matters enormously: Leadership inevitably attracts criticism. Maintaining healthy self-esteem—grounded in purpose rather than popularity—is what allows leaders to weather difficult seasons without becoming defensive.
Her discussion of ego is equally insightful.
She even examines bullying among adults in schools, reminding leaders that inflated egos often mask fragile confidence. Kindness, therefore, is not avoiding difficult behaviour. Kindness means addressing it while preserving dignity. One reflection stayed with me long after finishing the book:
Did I lead with kindness—even when it was difficult?
Final Thoughts
One of the reasons this book works so well is Joanna Povall’s vulnerability.
Every chapter includes what she calls an “Epic Fail”—a story from her own leadership journey where she fell short of one of the CHASE principles. Rather than diminishing her credibility, these stories strengthen it. They remind us that leadership is not about perfection. It is about reflection.
Each chapter also includes practical strategies, summaries, and coaching questions, making this less of a leadership book and more of a leadership companion.
The final reflection may be my favourite:
“What if success was measured not by how much we do, but by how well we take care of ourselves and our staff?” (p.160)
Povall expands this beautifully:
“Imagine having a performance review in which wellbeing and work-life balance are key targets. If we want a school culture in which kindness and wellbeing thrive… then we must celebrate and prioritize choices that support this.” (p.160)
That question feels especially timely. As schools continue to navigate increasing complexity, growing expectations, and persistent staff fatigue, perhaps the next evolution of educational leadership is not becoming tougher.
Perhaps it is becoming kinder—with greater clarity, deeper accountability, stronger relationships, and healthier cultures.
Highly recommended.