Faith Venture

My parents taught me no social skills. Sometimes I reflect on my youth and cringe. Now I am an old man and getting better.

Unfortunately, or fortunately in terms of my growth as a human, I’ve placed myself into a variety of leadership and professional roles where some amount of social skills are required.

I’m wrestling with a problem right now that involves several people with widely different views. I need to bring people together to end misunderstandings and focus on our purpose. This problem has consumed far too many emotional and intellectual cycles.

This is hard for an introverted nerd to do. How do I bring out empathy within my thinking and feeling such that I can feel for all sides? 

That question leads to the understanding of just how important a skill that is for us living today. We are as polarized as ever not only in the US but also worldwide. Resistance weight training is a proven tool for improving health and prolonging a better life. 

We need resistance training for our empathy muscle. Of course we are right in everything we think and do…right? Well, maybe others could be right? Maybe when we all come together the melding of ideas leads to better ideas. Maybe when I facilitate bringing people together goals are achieved.

Fifty years ago as a new manager in the department my boss told me, “Your biggest problems will not be technical problems. They will be people problems.” He was so right. If I am going to proclaim my core values as peace and justice, then it must begin with flexing the empathy muscle and bringing people together.

This entry was posted on February 28, 2024 at 10:50 am and is filed under emotions, Relationship. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.