I’m sitting here enjoying the beautiful weather this morning while I nurse a good cup of coffee. As I look out the window I see a lot of people sitting in lounge chairs talking and sharing. Some are working. Some just hanging out. The season is changing. The heat of the summer is gone and fall is here. As I ponder about that, I’m reminded that change is inevitable. I’m in my 50s now…. and times are different than even a few years ago. The economy is worse off than it was just 3 years ago. My kids are older. Our financial situation has changed. The political landscape is challenging. The world is struggling to deal with terrorism. So… in the midst of all these changes, how do we keep our sanity and some semblance of hope?
Before you read the rest of the post. Watch the following video from Napoleon Dynamite:
I was sitting at Starbucks yesterday morning day trading, when a very casual acquaintance came up and asked me where I thought the economy was going. I shrugged. He then proceeded to tell me that President Obama was a communist and heathen and that the he was (apparently) single-handedly responsible for destroying our country. He was very passionate about his message, and when I tried to ask about all the things he inherited, I basically got ignored. Remembering the saying “don’t throw pearls before swine”, I just let the conversation, albeit one-sided, die.
I’ve been in an interesting discussion on LinkedIn that led to a small discussion on Hope. The question for the discussion was what would you tell President Obama if you could meet with him for 30 minutes? (For those on LinkedIn, the discussion can be found at the Lead Change Group). One of the posters was a gentleman named Dan Mulhern, the First Genlteman of Michgan. He closed his posting by asking the President to give the people of America hope.
If you are having trouble getting people to listen to you, you are not alone. Or are you? If you find yourself constantly cast as an outsider of a group, there are two possibilities. The first is that the group you are trying to connect with is closed – indicating it is experience Groupthink or that there are underlying organizational culture issues. If this is the case, it’s time to leave. On the other hand, the group may just appear to be closed… to you. Why? Have yo ever considered it is because you aren’t building relationships?
This is the first in a series on how to get people to listen to you. You may find that although you have greet ideas and are full of enthusiasm and knowledge, that no one listens to you. You can get people to listen if you play your cards right. Today we’ll talk about earning the right to state your case.
My daughter loves to dance and because of this I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Michael Flatley‘s Lord of the Dance. We actually went to see Riverdance a few years ago when it was in town, although Michael Flatley was retired by then. The dancing is spectacular. Precise. Inspiring. Rythmic. I began to wonder if we could learn anything from these spectacular shows when it comes to promoting project excellence.
I’m assuming that since you’re here, that you want to grow. I know some of you want to become better leaders, some better parents or spouses. Perhaps you want to grow financially, spiritually, or some other area of personal growth. Whatever it is, you must learn to make room for the growth before it can happen.
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