The world is in a very conflicted state. Some say the cause is greed, ego, evilness, bigotry, or a variety of terms to describe “bad people.” While those may be legitimate factors, my thirty years of resolving disputes among individuals has shown me that each side always attributes those traits to the other side. There must be more to it. Misunderstandings caused by our failure to listen, our propensity to make assumptions, and a failure to apply critical thinking skills are the real culprits.
Once you draw conclusions because you don’t like this “type” of person, that “approach,” those “mannerisms,” their “manner of speech,” that “look,” or how a person “sounds,” we are violating our Rotarian prescribed fairness approach.
Importantly, we are denying ourselves, Rotary, and those around us the benefit of new ways to see a situation, solve problems, or develop good plans. It is well established that groups comprised of individuals with a wide variety of experiences, skills, and knowledge make better decisions.
As a Rotary leader, it is critical that you select good advisors and team leaders. First, always have others around you to help process solutions and approaches to issues. Second, select your advisors thoughtfully. You want diversity of thinking, experience, and skill sets. Third, listen to those you do select. Seldom will you be the smartest person in the group, and never are you the smartest person in the group on every topic. Ideas will be considered of which you had not thought.
Create a rich environment to develop creative and effective approaches and solutions.