What you want
may not be
what you want,
the moment others,
whose validation you crave,
don’t want it,
too.
To better understand
what you want,
it can be useful
to find what you like
that others,
whose validation you crave,
don’t want.
Tag: Leadership
To be Human
The Chinese character
for a human being (人)
are two strokes
supporting
one another.
What if
it is difficult
to be human
without support?
What if
our blaming of others
for behaving less than human
only isolates them
further,
making it even harder
for them
to be human?
What if…?
Too Busy
What if
we’re too busy
helping
…
to realize
that we
need help?
What if
we’re too busy
wanting
…
to realize
that we already
have it?
What if
we’re too busy
persuading
…
to realize
that we need only
ask for it.
Greed 2
People often think
greed
is wanting more.
Greed
may also indicate
a lack of clarity
around what we really
want.
Because a lack of clarity
around what we really want
can often breed anxiety
around a perpetual sense
of not having enough.
After all,
how can we have enough
of what we don’t know
we want?
What’s Difficult
We know
we should be
more kind.
We know
we should be
more understanding.
We know
we should be
more present.
What’s difficult
is being this way
when we feel
that others
are not being this way
with us.
Clever Remarks
When people say
“I feel uncertain.”
The temptation
is to say something clever,
like
“There was never a time
that was certain.”
As true
as that may be,
that can shut down
a valuable opportunity
for innovation,
where we can support their reflection
on what negative outcome
feels certain.
Serial Enterepreneurship
“How many startups
have you founded?”
I asked.
“This
is my 3rd.”
she answered.
“That
could not have been
easy.” I said.
“It’s like
having kids.”
she replied
without hesitation.
“When you have them,
you tell yourself
‘never again!’”
she continued
smiling.
“But somehow
you forget that
and before you know it
you’re having
another one.”
Wisdom
The root
of “wisdom”
is “weid-,”
“to see.”
When we realize empathy,
we connect
our experience
with that
of another.
Experiences
we did not know
to connect.
And it is in that instant,
we come to see
something
we previously
did not.
If Steve is right
that creativity
is coming to see something
others
could not
by connecting
experiences,
then perhaps realizing empathy
is creativity
imbued with the wisdom
of love.
Boundary of Responsibility
May we ask ourselves
where
our responsibility
ends.
Where
the limits
of our ability to respond
lies.
Because our responsibility ends,
where our ability ends.
To assume otherwise,
can be an easy way
to set us up
for frustration
and resentment.
The Temptation
The temptation
is to use empathy
as a means
to persuade.
To be right.
To win.
Far more difficult
is to realize empathy
as a means
to create.
To learn something
new.
To win
together.