Trigger Question #11:
Let’s assume you want to be nicer to others. And why not? Kindness never goes out of style.
Here are three ways you could try, even at work:
You can practice the one you already know. Treat others the way you want them to treat you. The trick with this one is to know exactly how you wish to be treated. (A boomerang does not change its shape on the way back to you.)
Or you can try the trickier one Shakespeare gets Hamlet to explain. You should not react to others based on who they are. Rather, treat them according to who you are. This one forces you to see everyone as your equal. Tricky, isn’t it?
Then there is the most difficult one of the three. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe proposed this one. Treat others as if they were what they ought to be, and you will help them become what they are capable of being. The trick with this one is… well, if you understand it, then you are ready to be a leader. Because it’s that vision thing again: see not what is, but what can be.
Once you’ve tried all three on other people, you might discover, surprise, surprise, that you would like to be treated Goethe’s way. Which means you are back to treating others the way you want them to treat you.
Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.
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Quote of the Moment:
“It takes guts, or stupidity, to treat your bosses the way they treat you.” The Chief Nonsense Officer.
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