Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/we-must-have-courageous-and-historically-accurate-conversations/5025425/
We are now facing two pandemics—first COVID-19, and then everything that the George Floyd situation has unleashed. Even with all the challenges, one of the things I feel good about is that people around the world are having courageous conversations. As a leader, I am very intentionally stepping back and focusing on becoming a good listener. And I am not talking about listening just to people who think like I do. I am talking about listening to every voice, even the strident voices, even the voices I feel do not really “get it.” I ask myself, “Is there something they are saying that I am misunderstanding or not really hearing?” Leaders right now must seriously, carefully and intentionally listen with a true desire to understand. Once that understanding is received, leaders must then act to bring about meaningful change.
One thing I am concerned about is that, in our conversations, we are all throwing around a lot of language that we have not interrogated or explored. We have to speak carefully and ask each other what we truly mean by the words we are using. Each of us comes to any conversation with our own perspectives. When we talk about two ...