You can read that your product makes one out of three girls feel bad about themselves, and still comment that it is more likely for it to have positive effects (it’s one out of three, after all), or that the number is only a reflection of what happens in the world.
At the end of the day, the way you choose to interpret the world is up to you.
What is up to us all, though, is choosing if we are going to follow or not.
Three people that are worth following.
Shit happens, right?
We are all familiar with this way of saying. We have used it or heard it or written it o read it many times, in many different circumstances.
What we seem to not be very familiar with, though, is the actual situation of shit happening. We go about our lives as if we are seeking perfection, we convince ourselves that we can control every tiny detail, and eventually we are completely unprepared for the thousands of times when things don’t go according to plans.
We ought to learn to let go.
Not because we don’t care. Not because we have given up. Not because we turn our attention to something else.
But because we do care, we are committed, and we want to succeed.
To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.
Pema Chödrön
There are moments of crisis in every group, in every team, in every company.
And if you lead, you ought to try and turn the crisis into an opportunity to strengthen the bonds.
Confirm with your people what the purpose is. The vision, the long-term game, the utopia you are heading towards despite the temporary setback.
And then agree on what the tactics are, what you are going to do today that’s going to take you all closer to the purpose.
The two parts go hand in hand, and that’s where most leaders fail. They either move from one tactic to the next, in the hope to find a purpose. Or they use tactics that are taking them away from the purpose, with the excuse of trying to address the crisis (“we will do what is right once the crisis is over” is not a very effective narrative).
When purpose and tactics are aligned, here are three important questions to answer to keep everyone informed and cared for as you get to it.
Looking at things from another person’s perspective does not mean you are giving up. It does not mean you are wrong. It does not mean you agree with them. It does not mean that you are going to change your mind.
It merely means that you are open to accept that the other person is living through different circumstances, has a different set of prioritites, has different feelings, fears, and thoughts. It means you are ready to appreciate how variegated human behaviour can be. And it means that you care.
It’s not a loss. It’s the first step towards building empathy.
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