The latest issue of The LeanMag is just out…and it’s time for my Kindness Korner article! This month’s topic: Why labeling people who aren’t on board immediately as “resisters” is unkind! As humans we are all hard-wired for “negativity bias”…to see the negative things in our environment that might be unsafe, and react out of fear, first! So, when presented with a new way to work, or asked to change, our first reaction is usually negative! If we don’t realize that resistance is simply human, we might not use our empathy and compassion to connect with people! And instead, we might label them as “resisters”.
But labeling people as ‘resisters’ isn’t a kind way to speak about them. And although “sticks and stones may break bones” long after bones have healed, those negative words we describe people as may follow them, stick in their minds, and hold them back forever (we’ll be discussing more about this during our Kind Leader Guided Book Club Session this week! And you can read more about it in Chapter 5 of The Kind Leader: A Practical Guide to Eliminating Fear, Creating Trust and Leading with Kindness).
Start your week off by paying attention to how you are “labeling” others…and if you are Speaking Kindly or not!
Please enjoy this article…you can download it right here!