Over the past month there has been a consistent theme within the media that may have lessons for leaders in organizations; this theme revolves around our frequent failure to engage with others, especially those we feel may have different views to our own. We have the ability to ‘mute’ people we do not want to hear from and many now travel and sit at their desks plugged into their earphones rather than the surrounding activity. The individuals effectively sanction everything they hear. While many say this helps them concentrate, or that they do not want to engage with others, we have learnt this week that it is actually beneficial to well-being to engage with random strangers in conversation. This has resulted in the rail network offering a ‘chat carriage’ (carriage C, in case you are interested) to facilitate connections between willing parties.
Many years ago, when leading a large team I took to selecting a random empty desk every day as my work station, I was astonished at how much I learned: How many times I heard my team being coerced into work not on the schedule, how much new information I gathered and how many process improvements it led to.
Listening and engaging with a diverse population adds knowledge, richness and perspective in any role. Once we listen to only one voice, there is no challenge and a danger that we all develop more and more extreme views that leads to increased polarization. This is exactly the situation we face as our media consumption is increasingly driven by algorithms that seem to offer us ‘more of the same’. We risk a world where we all camp in our silos, convinced that we are right, and never opening the door to new ideas or opinions that could help us move forward.
When do you effectively ‘mute’ others, even if you are physically present and pretending to listen?
Who do you need to engage with to get a different perspective?
How can you open opportunities to more knowledge and information from others?
Many years ago, when leading a large team I took to selecting a random empty desk every day as my work station, I was astonished at how much I learned: How many times I heard my team being coerced into work not on the schedule, how much new information I gathered and how many process improvements it led to.
Listening and engaging with a diverse population adds knowledge, richness and perspective in any role. Once we listen to only one voice, there is no challenge and a danger that we all develop more and more extreme views that leads to increased polarization. This is exactly the situation we face as our media consumption is increasingly driven by algorithms that seem to offer us ‘more of the same’. We risk a world where we all camp in our silos, convinced that we are right, and never opening the door to new ideas or opinions that could help us move forward.
When do you effectively ‘mute’ others, even if you are physically present and pretending to listen?
Who do you need to engage with to get a different perspective?
How can you open opportunities to more knowledge and information from others?
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