It's Personal. It's Political. It's Global.

REMINDER:

Don’t miss The Enlightened Workplace Project Webinar on October 2. 

Learn more at the end of the blog.

It’s difficult to know where to begin my blog this week. The news is overwhelming. The divisions within the U.S., and around the world, are deep.

We all have our personal drama going on. Wearing masks, remembering to wash our hands, worrying about our health. Dealing with fire, smoke and water in our communities. Facing the realities of social injustice. Worrying about our families and finances. Many have lost loved ones, their jobs and/or their homes.

On the political front, it has never been so divisive, and downright scary, in my lifetime. People are talking about civil war in the United States. A controversial election is looming with many tentacles of contention—mail-in ballots, the post office, mask-less rallies, and now, the death of a legend at an inopportune time for one party and possibly an opportunity for the other.

Above the fray of the personal and political sits the most oppressive global threats from both the pandemic and climate change. And, amazingly, those very threats are even in dispute. “It’s going to cool down.” and “Coronavirus will just go away.” What?

For both sides, it’s hard to understand the other. Our news comes from different sources. The stories we hear and the perspectives we believe are opposite. A major contributing factor to the divide are the algorithms in social media that reinforce our polar opposite beliefs. 

Okay, what can we do? The word that comes to mind for me is simple. Kindness. We must be kind to each other and to ourselves. The escalation must be stopped. The intensity calmed.

If you find yourself hyperventilating over any stressful dimension of life right now, personal, political or global, be kind. Give yourself some grace. When we are stressed out, it inevitably make things worse for ourselves and those around us. So, stop, rest, relax, turn off the news, call a friend, take a bath. If you dip into behavior that is not positive, you know what I’m talking about, be kind to yourself. Tomorrow is another day.

When we think about those we disagree with, either in government, in our families or with neighbors, be kind. EVERYONE believes what they think is right. We won’t stop an insurrection with negativity. We have to be kind on a human level.

Being kind does not mean we stop advocating for what we believe in through social, political and legal action. 

If we want to build our communities and our countries back, we must be respectful and compassionate. That does not mean that we give up our point of view. It just means that we respect others.

When we listen deeply to others, especially when we disagree with them, and they feel heard, seeds of understanding are planted. This is the only way out of the quagmire we find ourselves in. The only way to truly win is when everyone’s point of view is respected, as hard as that may be in the current climate.

On a positive note, I continue to be delighted about The Enlightened Workplace Project. This is an online course for leaders and managers that we’ve been working on all year. The timing is perfect. It’s about bringing more humanity and compassion to the workplace, which, in turn, improves business results and makes the world a better place. Come learn more at the free webinar on October 2.

Wishing us all peace and safety,

Barbara Fagan-Smith

P.S. If you are interested in joining The Enlightened Workplace Project online course, as a Living ROI reader, I am happy to give you a significant discount code: ROISPECIAL. If you want to learn more, I'm hosting a free webinar on October 2 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET.