I know if you’re in a relationship that you understand that there is at least one person who thinks differently than you and that every argument invariably boils down to a different view of how things exist and should be responded to.
The same is true in the workplace.
There are people with a different worldview than you, different experiences than you based upon where and when they grew up, their religion, national origin, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, social class, what part of a country they grew up in, education, marital status and countless others.
Too often, I forget that the 26-year-old I’m talking to, who I have so much in common with, didn’t grow up in New York, didn’t attend New York public schools, wasn’t alive during many of the historical events that shaped my thinking, is of a different race and national origin that I, and countless other differences.
I try to remember that in my interactions and sometimes forget.
It’s like learning the difference between how I see 9/11 as someone who is in New York when the planes flew into the Towers and my son is experience of it is watching it on YouTube. For him its history; for me it’s a vivid event.
Can you imagine growing up and experiencing dismissal and/or persecution based upon race, religion, national origin, class . . . Need I go on?
Maybe you’ve experienced it yourself and act obliviously toward the experience of others.
By definition, you don’t know what your blind spots are until there pointed out to you and that is uncomfortable.
It’s also essential to being effective personally and professionally.
Invite other voices into the discussion.
Reach out to others for private conversations where they might feel safer than doing it publicly in front of a group.
Support the participation and repudiate the dismissal of their thinking.
After all, you may only get one chance at this and if you tolerate “bad behavior,” rudeness, and other forms of trivializing their ideas, you’ve lost them… And rightly so.
Ⓒ The Big Game Hunter, Inc., Asheville, NC 2020
ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a career and leadership coach who worked as a recruiter for more than 40 years. He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with more than 1800 episodes and his newest show, “No BS Coaching Advice” and is a member of The Forbes Coaches Council.
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