The simple question on whether to watch the news or not can get us all worked up. Is it better to know, or to live in blissful ignorance? And even if you make it through the news hour, can you also endure the volatile and extreme opinions that follow right after? The answer is to listen actively and then act. Consider this…
We Are All People
We all have our opinions, and we follow our own belief systems that are based on our unique experiences, culture, and upbringing. Much factors into this, such as our emotional quotient, education, exposure to other people, places, and cultures.
Have you ever been engaged in a passionate conversation trying to convince others to see your side? Most times, it’s pointless. Because people strongly invest in their opinions and beliefs.
Getting Along Is Simple
Consider that having a right to your opinion means others also have a right to their own. Their experiences are different so their opinions will be different.
If we listen actively instead of speaking so much, perhaps we would discover a narrative on the other side that deserves consideration. Someone who brings it to the point consistently is Jimmy Kimmel.
The example on the other side is the current President of the United States. It is no secret that I personally have a visceral negative reaction to him and I can’t watch or listen to him talk. It is easy for me to find something wrong with just about everything he says. I have to remind myself to actively listen to not miss the fine nuances between what he is actually doing and what he inherited.
Trump makes it very easy to dislike him, mostly because he seems to not ever listen. And when he talks, he appears to be screaming. Perhaps it is because he’s never learned to see any other side, or maybe it is his personality. What is the lesson here?
Listen Actively
Whether we agree or disagree, or like or dislike someone/something, we always have a choice. We can do one of two things:
- Pretend the problem doesn’t exist and turn off the news, shrug our shoulders, and wait it out. (This is called ignorance.)
- Recognize that the discord in the world we are experiencing is the result of us allowing the loudmouths to speak too loudly and too frequently. It means that other voices are not being heard or listened to.
Be the Change You Want to See in the World
It is time to examine our own motives and what we believe in. We don’t want to be that person who just yells our opinions and expects to gain respect for them.
With active listening, we have a game plan for what we will get involved in and commit to. In my case, I commit to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion. As we call it in The Women’s Code—I support balanced leadership.
Because if not you, then who? If not now, then when? What are you willing to stand up for?
At her lowest point, Beate Chelette was $135,000 in debt, a single mother, and forced to leave her home. Only 18 months later, she sold her image licensing business to Bill Gates in a multimillion dollar deal. Chelette is a nationally known ‘gender decoder’ who has appeared in over 60 radio shows, respected speaker, career coach, consummate creative entrepreneur, and author of Happy Woman Happy World. Beate is also the founder of The Women’s Code, a unique guide to women leadership and personal and career success that offers a new code of conduct for today’s business, private, and digital worlds. Determined to build a community of women supporting each other, she took her life-changing formula documented it all in a book Brian Tracy calls “an amazing handbook for every woman who wants health, happiness, love and success!”
Through her corporate initiative “Why Acting Like a Girl Is Good For Business” she helps companies with gender diversification training, and to develop and retain women.
If you’d like to book Beate as a speaker on New Leadership Balance or Creative Entrepreneurship for your next event please connect with me.