The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 5 letter word SHOW MERCY
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
S
H
O
W
M
E
R
C
Y
Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Be kind" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case be kind = show mercy.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.