One morning, I hopped off the train at Central Station and as per my usual routine followed a group of people down towards the stairs leading to another platform.
While I was walking down, suddenly the group stops with a halt.
Within a split of a second: my initial thoughts were:
First – “Come on, keep on moving”
Second – “Oh, he’s got nice shoes”
Naturally looking for answers, I looked left, right, down and realized someone was walking towards us from the opposite direction.
It was one man stuck to the far right-hand side trying to squeeze through many of us, up the stairs.
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So that morning, it got me thinking.
What happens when the drive and the vision of an individual isn’t the same as the collective?
What will be the impact if that one was many?
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Whether it’d be a company, community or even within the family, this type of separation can be easily found.
A proactive approach could minimize chronic, longer term issues.
From being one, two, and five… and so on.
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So what can we do differently to mitigate this issue?
Start by having more face-to-face conversation with people. It may take up time, but this time taken can bring forward better relationships, trust and collaboration to the team (or family). I don’t see any harm in having more conversations compared to having less. Starting a conversation opens up to a whole new dimension of thoughts, understandings and the whys. If you are a leader, be brave and step up to your team to have these conversations. You will realize how much you didn’t know about your colleagues and what troubles they have been facing. This could ultimately shift that one into the many, going in the right direction.
Observe the people around you. Trust me, it will make a huge difference.
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Do you
have any suggestions or experiences that would like to be shared?