Business Is The Best Answer

We’re not getting along.

Whether it’s politics, race, religion, culture, immigration, gay marriage, current events, BLM, or just about any other topic you can name, we all have a differing opinion.

Our opinions are based on what we know (or what we think we know) and what we believe.  Those beliefs are formed over a lifetime of experiences (we explored our complicated selves in a couple of recent blogs — click here to see "I Am My Life - Part 1") and delivered in a way that reflects our personality, some softly with others being very loud about their opinions.

We’re often letting those opinions be known in pubic spaces, on TV and radio, at church, and during family gatherings.  Probably the largest platform for airing our viewpoints is social media including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter, which can be over the top with emotional and often ugly comments.  

Those over-the-top social media comments are just a small part of the incivility we’re seeing today.  In fact, most people would agree that incivility has never been higher.  

I don’t mean the rioting that plagued many cities in 2020 although that is certainly a reflection of our disagreements.

I’m talking about the inability to engage in meaningful dialogue about the issues we’re facing as a nation.  We simply can’t seem to have real, honest, uncomfortable conversations that can either help change someone’s mind or at least help people gain an understanding of others and grow in empathy for people who are different.

So how do we overcome this standoff?  How do we stop yelling at each other and start talking to each other?  When will we stop calling each other names and start calling each other brother and sister and friend?

I think we’ll do this when business starts facilitating those difficult conversations.

Why Business?

We tend to hang with “people like us.”  That’s certainly true with family.  Yes, today’s political climate has driven a wedge between some family members.  For the most part, though, family sticks together.

Our friends tend to look and think like us as well.  That describes my friends.  I have a close group of six or seven guys that I hang with, drink bourbon with, and generally do life with.  Our wives are all friends so we also do things as couples.

Many churches look the same as well.  I live in Lewisville, Texas, a North Dallas suburb and while my church is open to anyone and proactively reaches out to the Hispanic community, it’s still a predominately white church.

Then there’s business.  Business is different.  While our family and social groups are often a reflection of ourselves, business usually has a different look and feel.

Business is comprised of people from all walks of life.  In addition to different genders and generations, employees also represent different ethnicities, different sexual preferences, different educations, different backgrounds, different political beliefs, and different thinking styles.  The differences go on and on and on and . . .

Yes, families, friends, and social groups can be a melting pot of different people, but it’s business that truly brings dissimilar people together.

It’s Too Hot

So business has the opportunity — some would say responsibility — to help lower the temperature of our personal interactions and, ultimately, our society.

“Lower the temperature.”  That’s a great term, isn’t it?  I wish I had come up with that but I must give credit to a fantastic professional speaker, Michael Hoffman (click here to learn more about Michael).  Michael expertly applies that term to organizations that want to deliver great customer service.

I don’t think Michael would mind if I adopted that term to describe our current culture, which is red hot, and how companies can cool things down a bit by helping employees understand each other and talk — calmly — to one another.  

I’m not the only person who proposes business take the lead here.  At a Ken Blanchard conference in 2018, I heard author Brené Brown urge companies to facilitate those uncomfortable conversations within the workforce in order to attract and keep the best employees.  So business has a vested interest in facilitating those challenging conversations; it’s a real business advantage!

My Passion

That’s my goal with this blog and with everything I do; my raison d’être.  I want to help people find success and gratification in their daily activities by helping employees understand each other and get along.  I want to “lower the temperature” in corporate cultures.

So "Getting Along" will be my theme for the rest of 2021.  Throughout the year, we’ll explore Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion.  We’ll dive into one of my keynote presentations about Building a Value-Others Culture.  We’ll touch on civility, challenging conversations, and how to interact with people who are different than ourselves.

I hope you’ll follow along throughout the year.  And I really hope you’ll interact, provide comments, ask questions, push back (just a little), and challenge me.

And hopefully, with each blog, comment, and story, the pebbles we throw into the “pond of life” will create ripples that benefit others, ultimately making our businesses more engaging and satisfying.

And making life just a little bit easier.   

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