What A Wisconsin Blizzard Taught Me About People
Yesterday I drove in the middle of the winter Blizzard coming back from up north Wisconsin. The weather was terrible and there were white out conditions and if you have never driven in such weather, it can be extremely dangerous. One of the most interesting things that I noticed was a long single line behind me and in front of me. The left lane was open but not plowed so I thought it was remarkably interesting that everybody conformed to the single line. I thought to myself the only reason people could be doing this was for safety reasons. We all agreed to conform without really talking to each other, yet today when we get into conversations of politics or the use of the vaccination and if we have heaven forbid have different views we really do not talk and listen to each other. Yet, during winter blizzard hundreds if not thousands of cars with people never speaking to one another conformed for the safety of one another. What an interesting thought!
We are all guilty of discord when we disagree with people which can lead to a lack of listening or empathy during conversations. I just find it so amazing that when one thousand plus cars with people never speaking to one another silently conformed to a single line for the safety of one another. I am in no way suggesting we should stop talking to each other, but it is amazing how much it illustrates when we do talk to each other how much our conversation skills need to improve. Here are five suggestions I think every organization can embrace to improve workplace conversations:
1.????Ask yourself why a person has a certain view before you respond to their view.
2.????Use active listening not only as a tool to demonstrate listening but to slow yourself down and have a cadence of not interrupting and disrupting the conversation.
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3.????Ask deeper questions to explore the why behind somebody's view.
4.????Demonstrate appreciation of their view. This does not mean you agree or disagree but demonstrating an appreciation keeps the dialogue going even when there's disagreement.
5.????Have the ultimate objective no matter the viewpoints of having a calm and professional conversation.
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Here is a link to a podcast I did on this very topic: https://www.buzzsprout.com/705024/9670880