Beware of Offending

Interesting title don’t you think? It could have been ‘Be Aware of Offending’. Whether someone is offended or not lies with the person. We are responsible for how we respond. What may offend one person may not offend another.

I have written about discrimination, harassment and bullying and annually remind people about educating their employees about the legislation relating to those issues. Those laws have been brought in for a reason. These are very blatant acts intended to belittle and demean another person.

The offending referred to in the title above is very different. It is offence being taken when someone simply does not agree with the opinion of another person. That is not a blatant act and generally isn’t intended to belittle and demean.

Last year I read a number of articles about universities, both here and overseas, who were banning speakers from their universities because the speakers’ opinions may not align with the students’ thinking. These are supposed to be places of learning! Learning is meant to challenge your thinking and beliefs. Normally it leads to a wider view of the world making it easier to navigate.

One of the important steps in creating a high performing team, is the ability of Team Members to express to each other their thoughts and feelings safely. It enables Team members to solve problems creatively and resolve conflict easily. Ideas and innovation are brought to life.

Yet society wants us to temper our words. Be careful what we say and do. This does not mean we should abuse and insult people but we should be able to discuss different points of view freely. When we are unable to express our thoughts and ideas our brain, in a sense, shuts down and we do not function to our capacity. We are not happy.

In my opinion, this is affecting our ability to have resilience. How debilitating it must be if we can’t at least hear an opinion different from our own? Most of us believed in Santa Claus once...

How well do your Team Members label and express their emotions and deal with conflict? Do you try new things and encourage ideas?

If these things aren’t happening well within your Team what is it costing your, not just financially, but emotionally?