Tag: respect

Diversity Matters

John Corrigan

“I am just not a fan of diversity for diversity sake.” I was floored when I heard the words from someone who I didn’t think was racist until they made that statement. Diversity is part of what makes any organization thrive grow and function optimally. The world is big and robust and we should always be leaning as much as we can about all parts of the world. A diverse workplace makes this learning possible.

“You not only have a right to be an individual. You have a responsibility.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

Diversity relies on two types of respect. 1. respect for others 2. respect for yourself. My hope is that we are all brave enough to live our truths and let others live theirs.

Respectfully be yourself today and everyday

Photo by Clement percheron on Pexels.com

What are we?

John Corrigan

As we get older we find ourselves dealing with people who seem to be getting younger. I have on more than one occasion worked with people that are the same age as my adult children. We navigate our social interactions at work differently when we work with the younger associates and at the end of the day we call our friends that our own age and commiserate about the surreal events.

One word that comes up in the commiseration is entitled. It is a buzz word and an easy excuse for why the younger generation, shows up late, does not complete projects, when they do complete projects they are not on time or of the correct quality and complain about the criticism given to them or the lack of job growth they are given. Originally I was able to get behind this buzz word and tried to give it some traction. However when I began to think, I mean really think about it, the power of the buzz word, like all the others, fell apart and lost steam.

Entitled means that we are deserving of privileges just because we are here and in certain cases this is correct. I truly believe that there are rights that living beings possess simply through being born. When beings have these rights taken away from them we are living in a society that is broken.

The more I live the more I think that people at all ages are truly products of the society they live in and if I want to see change. If I want to see progress I will have to work towards changing society so that at the very least all people get what they are entitled too.

What are we entitled to? At the very minimum we are all entitled to respect. Respect is and should be given even if we do not feel that someone has earned it. We should respect and care for everyone no matter how awful we believe they are. They idea that respect should be earned is toxic and is creating a society in which our coworkers cannot thrive and live their best lives.

At the end of the day we would do well to respect everyone.

Photo by Julia Larson on Pexels.com

Imagine a world

John Corrigan

Toady is International Women’s day.

Photo by Chelsi Peter on Pexels.com

Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.

George Bernard Shaw

Imagination is important for success and childhood development. Imagination is truly the beginning of creation. Everything created or modified by humanity started in someone’s or a groups imagination as an ideal.

Without a vision the people will perish

On the website for International Women’s day the site asks the visitor to “Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. A world that’s diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated.”

As a exercise today I have really tried to imagine this new type of world. What does a world without bias, stereotype or discrimination look like? It is hard to imagine because we do not live in this world however I imagine that world would not be free of differences but celebrate the differences and work together to achieve good for all genders.

The bets way to imagine something is to practice doing it. It is small wins and steps that give us the skills to grow our imagination. Today work hard to celebrate, acknowledge and respect all genders and do as much good as you can for all people

Everyone should matter to you

John Corrigan

I just finished reading an article on the Inc. website. The article gave some advice to managers on, how one should avoid being friends with any of their employees and exactly how to treat all their employees.

The article used the advice that a 5th grade teacher gave to her students on how to treat everyone.

I think this advice should apply for everyone and should be used throughout our entire lives.

Every person matters and if they do not matter to you then they should and they will if you learn about them. When everyone matters you will notice them, you may not find it easy to be friendly to all of them ( some real a@$$ hats out there), you may also have trouble making room for them, however if you are rooting for them and if you can empathize with them then you maybe able to be more friendly and make some

Of course we will all have special places in our lives and our heart for our family, friends and loved ones however, when we realize how special the act of living is I think then we can find ourselves in a position that will allow us to head the fifth grade teachers advice to her students.

The odds of you me and every person alive being born is 1 in 400 trillion. Some more information here on that math. Basically the odds of you being born are almost zero! Once you let that sink in you should be able to find it in your heart to root for everyone even the a@! hats out there.

The odds were against them even showing up on the third rock from the sun and so after overcoming those odds one has to believe that these folks can and will change right? With some empathy kindness and friends maybe…

The other thing about empathy and friendship is that it beats the alternative. Which is apathy and meanness. when we loose hope in humanity and meanness is a slippery slope. Almost every religious text warns us about being mean. In the King James bible we are warned in provides that a mean person will be paid back with meanness (it really is a vicious circle). With all that in mind there is also nothing wrong with being a friend to yourself first and then others (remember we cannot put the oxygen mask on the kid if we are not wearing our own). It is easy to overlook self care and we should not do that. T

Today lets take care of ourselves, loved ones and everyone.

peace

john3c