“The only thing you sometimes have control over is perspective. You don’t have control over your situation. But you have a choice about how you view it.” —Chris Pine
Every conversation has three truths: Your version, the other person’s version, and the actual version. How you ask? Perspective.
It is rare that two individuals have the exact same perspective. As humans, we all see things differently because of our past situations, how we think, and how we feel. When that happens, we can either chose to agree, disagree, or attempt to understand the other person’s point of view.
At J2, we passionately try to understand the perspective of our clients, employees, and partners. Sometimes we agree, sometimes we don’t; sometimes we move forward and engage, sometimes we don’t; but in all cases, we come away with a deeper relationship and appreciation for each other. This is a core value for our team.
The next time you find yourself in a disagreement, take a moment and try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Seek to understand what they are saying and why it is important to them.
“Empathy begins with understanding life from another person’s perspective. Nobody has an objective experience of reality. It’s all through our own individual prisms.” —Sterling K. Brown
Have a great weekend.
—Vijay
About Friday Food for Thought (FFfT)
I frequently attend conferences and retreats on entrepreneurship and leadership and while I am away, the J2 team picks up the slack, allowing me to learn to be better at what I do. I wanted to share what I was learning with my team, so I created the weekly FFfT emails in November of 2015 and have been writing them ever since.
Before long, the J2 staff began sharing the FFfT emails with their friends and family and now other leaders have asked to be included, which led to the creation of this newsletter. I hope you enjoy!