"From where I sit…"
Three days ago on the airplane from Amman to London I found myself next to a sleepy fellow who was huddled up facing the window with his arm wrapped around the lady in the window seat and his head resting on her chest. Like a kid with a big round pillow. She was very round and short.
When he awakened he wanted to talk. I was interested because he clearly came from the Middle East and was very articulate. His wife, the pillow, was in traditional garb and very reserved.
Turns out he is a university professor in Great Britian and has just been with his family in Iraq having not seen them for years. He has been living in GB for twenty five years and had just been lecturing in China a few weeks ago. An interesting fellow.
He was passionate in his communication style. Gesturing with his hands, grabbing my arm and poking me to emphasize various points. So what did he have to say?
1. Iraq is a total mess.
2. The government is the pawn of the US, not the people.
3. Religious dissent is caused by the media and government not the people, they get along fine with their local neighbors.
4. They don’t like democracy, look at other countries in the area: Libya, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iran, etc. all run by dictators. In Iraq there is no electricity because the current government doesn’t care for the people.
5. Hamas, now this is in Gaza, understands and cares for the people.
And so it went. He believes that the United States is controlled by special interests as is Iraq. Evidence is Obama being a product of the Chicago machine. Bush invaded Iraq because Saddam tried to kill his father. And politics is LOCAL.
Yesterday I watched the senate hearings for Sec. of State. It was a typical DC event. Each senator given ten minutes to question the candidate, Hillary Clinton. The first eight to nine minutes used to position and promote self and then a soft ball question that is answered with platitudes. On the topic of people and management the candidate explained she will be very busy so she has appointed two new deputies. One will handle the people in the State Department and the other will handle all the operations in the State Department. She acknowledged she doesn’t have the time or talent to do either. She will be busy travelling and dealing with important issues after her people do the research needed.
Everybody sees the world from “where they sit” and if you want to have productive impact you must relate to them from where they are. Yesterday in my CEO Forum group we discussed Emotional Intelligence. Decisions are made and opinions are forged based on the past emotional experience of each person.
Spend some time to reflect on why you believe what you do and act the way you do. It has a lot to do with how you process emotion and your past experiences. Also, please take into consideration that everyone has had a different life experience and that’s why we are all different.
From where I sit it seems “the more things change, the more they are the same.” We make a difference one person at a time. Everyone is watching you and your behaviors, what do they see and believe based on the evidence?
