Christopher, thank you for writing such a brave and personal post. Your approach is sorely needed, especially now when our country is so divided. Unfortunately, we have a president-elect who thrives on chaos so the next four years we'll see a lot of political drama and disfunction.
The older I get, the more I appreciate kindness. It's something I try to embrace and act on as much as possible, though I could always do better. You discussed really listening to people for understanding and I agree. Stephen Covey, the author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People used a great approach in his consulting. If two parties disagreed then he would ask them to explain the others' point of view to their satisfaction. They didn't have to agree with the other person or other group, just explain their viewpoint to the others' satisfaction. What Dr. Covey found is that in many cases once people felt heard and understood, the communication went so much better and in most cases they found a way to work together and move forward.
Despite all the toxicity on social media about the election, I've found that when I took the time to just talk to people who had different viewpoints than me, we often weren't that far apart. Also, people are rarely "ugly" with each other in person. When I took the time to speak respectfully and really listen, in almost all cases I got that back.
Thanks again for expressing the need for kindness, especially now!
Well done on your part. You are a better person than I. I think in normal times, your approach is the right one. We are not in normal times. The issue for me is accountability. We have people who choose to support people who hate and then say, but X is more important. It is a way to blame others and not have any responsibility. I may act without kindness sometimes, but I will never avoid the responsibility of my actions.
Christopher, thank you for writing such a brave and personal post. Your approach is sorely needed, especially now when our country is so divided. Unfortunately, we have a president-elect who thrives on chaos so the next four years we'll see a lot of political drama and disfunction.
The older I get, the more I appreciate kindness. It's something I try to embrace and act on as much as possible, though I could always do better. You discussed really listening to people for understanding and I agree. Stephen Covey, the author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People used a great approach in his consulting. If two parties disagreed then he would ask them to explain the others' point of view to their satisfaction. They didn't have to agree with the other person or other group, just explain their viewpoint to the others' satisfaction. What Dr. Covey found is that in many cases once people felt heard and understood, the communication went so much better and in most cases they found a way to work together and move forward.
Despite all the toxicity on social media about the election, I've found that when I took the time to just talk to people who had different viewpoints than me, we often weren't that far apart. Also, people are rarely "ugly" with each other in person. When I took the time to speak respectfully and really listen, in almost all cases I got that back.
Thanks again for expressing the need for kindness, especially now!
Well done on your part. You are a better person than I. I think in normal times, your approach is the right one. We are not in normal times. The issue for me is accountability. We have people who choose to support people who hate and then say, but X is more important. It is a way to blame others and not have any responsibility. I may act without kindness sometimes, but I will never avoid the responsibility of my actions.