Sunday, September 5, 2010

Growing Your Seeds... Part II

There is this line in a song that goes... "Why do we always hurt
the
ones we love?"; and certainly, this is true. People could
never avoid
hurting the ones they love no matter how hard they
try. This is
because it is with them that we regularly interact with,
and so
misunderstandings are inevitable.

Think about this then. If these things happen with family, how
much
more with others whom attachments are not as deep?
In this case,
at work.

For this article, let us talk a bit about relationships --
work relationships.


"Top management must know how good or bad employees'
working
conditions are. They must eat in the employees'
restaurants...
visit the... lavatories. If they are not good enough
for those in charge,
they are not good enough for anyone."
~ Marcus Sieff


You must have heard of putting oneself in the shoes of another;
and
this is to help one understand others. This is what empathy
is all
about. Even the Bible speaks of doing to others what you
want them
do to you. This is the foundation of good relationships.
Yet as we
know, misunderstandings still happen.

Again, why?

Because of constant interaction? Well, we have mentioned that
earlier that even family with shared goals undergo it. Do we then
stop interacting? Of course not! That would be ridiculous!
No life,
no business, no nothing!

"When there's a deep-seated conflict between management
and
labor, it's because of autocratic management practices."
~ Ken Iverson

In the sports industry, for those of you who have followed the
NBA's
summer free agency rush... remember the issue between
the
Cavaliers' owner Dan Gilbert and LeBron James?

A surprised Dan Gilbert had his emotions run high after LeBron
ditched the Cavs. It was but natural for the people of Cleveland
to
feel dismayed as well as LeBron is the team's star; in
business
terms, he's the star salesman. However, a private,
no holds
barred meeting between parties could have been held
before
the decision was made to settle what needs to be settled.

Growing your seeds takes a lot of effort but rewards are great
when you understand how to do it... and do it. More next issue.

Remember…
"An organization can develop a strong and vibrant voice of
conscience only by finding ways to harmonize its multiple
voices
of conscience." - Frederick Bruce Bird

1 comment:

Henry Ford said...

Jesse,

As usual, an excellent article demonstrating deep thought and a mutual respect for all involved parties. Tragically many people respond with so much emotion and so little objective thinking that they are incapable of rational thought. I live in what was formerly considered "LeBron territory" and I am amazed at the hostility of some reactions. Your article shares much needed insight.