Understanding

Recently, I've been following this blog by a Harvard Business Professor. What he writes about is good for organizations, but also for people to apply in their own lives! The link above takes you to a post about how one can respond to an emotional outburst of a child... but again, it is applicable to co workers and relationships in general. 

I love how he states, "An organization performs best when the people in the organization know they can trust and depend on each other. Then they break out of silos. They take accountability for their own mistakes instead of blaming each other. They surface problems before they become major obstacles. But if people spend their energy hiding their feelings, that energy will leak out in negative and insidious ways, sabotaging your efforts and theirs." 

I've witnessed this in a few different cases recently and it's mostly the result of people being unwilling to "break out of their silos" and instead, hide their feelings. Whether it's because of a lack of trust, or an unwillingness to make themselves vulnerable, the end result I have witnessed lately is the same and it's not pleasant. 

"Uncovering the real issue happens when people feel safe enough to be vulnerable." It's not a fun spot to be in, but the understanding that comes from it is priceless. 

Given that I am currently in the spot where I would love to have some understanding from another individual, I am reminded yet again that I need to continue to be supportive, caring, and non-judgemental so that hopefully that trust and "safety zone" can be established. It would be a lot easier to throw up my hands in frustration and to back away, because this current spot I am in is not a fun place AT ALL. However, I know that those who love me don't do this to me, and more importantly, my Heavenly Father would not do this to me either... so I can do the same in return to one of his other children. And, I can pray to HF for help and strength along the way....