Author: Mike Urgo
What a time to be a leader, am I right?
I was talking to my soon to be thirteen-year-old daughter the other day. She has been watching that show: The Summer I Turn Pretty. It seems to me, much like Twilight was years ago, there’s a Jacob vs Edward situation in the show. And it was funny listening to her talk. She has very strong feelings as to which of the love interests in the show the woman should pick as well as very strong feelings as to why the other guy is the worst.
While we were talking, she was explaining to me that a few of her friends like the other guy and she was flabbergasted as to how that could happen. It got me thinking as most things do, that this is a microcosm of the problems we are facing as society and therefore as leaders. The way our world is shaping up is tailored to everything we like. When I log onto Google Chrome or any social media app, I get tailored ads and content based on things I like.
The challenge is, our “For You Page” is curated to content and ideas that we naturally agree with and move towards. This means that we are not often presented with ideas or things contrary to our beliefs or things we don’t like. What happens when we are then faced with someone or something that doesn’t align with those beliefs is that of shock or repulsion, rather than intellectual curiosity.
As leaders, we can’t shut ourselves off from diversity of thought. The fact is that people are different. Some people are team Jacob, some people are team Edward, some people have no idea who Jacob or Edward are or have even heard of the Twilight series.
And that is OK.
Diversity of thought is good, diversity of beliefs is good, so long as no one is endangered obviously. But if we live our lives within our own For You Pages, we miss out on being able to understand and appreciate where other thoughts and ideas come from both inside and outside the workplace. We can become impatient when it comes to cross collaboration, and we can shut down ideas that could be game changers.
Now, I am not saying to change what you like. I am not saying you need to agree with everything. I am saying as leaders and people of value in society, it’s important to be aware of and seek to understand perspectives, ideas, and beliefs contrary to your own. Because when you can be empathetic to other thoughts and ideas, you can drive collaboration, build buy-in and create a culture of inclusion and productivity.
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