In a recent LinkedIn post, Nick Curum explores the profound impact of seemingly small acts of kindness and support in the workplace, arguing that these micro-moments often hold more lasting significance than grand corporate initiatives.
Curum, reflecting on his own career, contrasts the fleeting memory of professional deliverables with the enduring recollection of human connection. He writes:
“I left that job six years ago. Can’t remember a single deliverable. Can’t remember the projects. Can’t remember the targets we hit. But I remember the colleague who brought me coffee when I was overwhelmed. I remember the teammate who said ‘I’ll handle it’ when I couldn’t. I remember the person who noticed I’d gone quiet and checked in.”
This stark comparison, according to Curum, highlights a fundamental misunderstanding of what constitutes effective support in professional environments. He contends that organizations often overemphasize large-scale gestures, such as team off-sites and recognition awards, overlooking the cumulative power of everyday interactions.
The Misconception of Grand Gestures
Curum challenges the conventional wisdom that support is primarily about formal programs and significant interventions. He suggests that these can often be less impactful than the spontaneous, unscripted moments of human connection that occur daily.
“We think it’s the big gestures. The team off-sites. The recognition awards. The wellness programmes. It’s not,” Curum states in his post.
Instead, he posits that true support is woven into the fabric of daily interactions. These are moments so subtle they might go unnoticed by the giver but are deeply felt by the receiver. Curum emphasizes that these small acts, often stemming from basic human decency, are what truly foster a sense of belonging and psychological safety.
Identifying the Real Drivers of Support
Curum identifies several examples of these impactful small moments:
- Someone covering a meeting when a colleague needs to leave early.
- A teammate sharing a similar past experience when a mistake is admitted.
- A colleague asking “are you okay?” and genuinely waiting for an honest response.
- A person not making a colleague feel foolish for asking a question.
These actions, Curum argues, are not extraordinary but represent fundamental human empathy. However, he observes that in many workplaces, such basic decency has become so rare that it feels remarkable.
“I’ve watched people burn out whilst sitting next to colleagues who never asked if they needed help. I’ve seen teams where everyone was struggling alone, assuming everyone else was fine.”
This normalization of not noticing, as Curum puts it, can lead to widespread burnout and isolation, even within teams that ostensibly care about their members. The assumption that everyone else is coping can prevent individuals from seeking or offering help.
The Lasting Impact of Human Connection
The core of Curum’s message is that while the specifics of work tasks fade, the memory of how one was treated during challenging times remains vivid. He asserts that genuine support, characterized by acts of noticing and offering help, is what transforms a mere job into a team worth fighting for.
“You won’t remember most of the work you did together. But you’ll remember who made you feel less alone when things were hard,” Curum explains.
He further elaborates on the qualities of supportive colleagues:
- Offering help without being asked.
- Admitting their own struggles.
- Treating mistakes as learning opportunities rather than failures.
Curum concludes that support is fundamentally simple: it requires noticing, offering help proactively, and treating colleagues as humans who experience difficulties, not as machines expected to perform flawlessly. These small moments, he maintains, create a massive difference in employee engagement and retention.
📝 About This Content
This article is based on insights shared by Nick Curum on LinkedIn.
📅 Originally posted on February 8, 2026 | View original post on LinkedIn →