Respecting Others’ Viewpoints Adds Up !!

Sarah Gilliland
Quality & Performance Co-ordinator
The Riverside Group Limited

I recently spotted this image on a popular social media website. I instantly loved it and, simultaneously, I instantly thought of Florence. The way you do things is not always the only way to do them.

Over recent months, I have been lucky enough to take part in several of Florence’s courses and this picture reminded me of the things I have learned. Each of the sessions have taught me a different skill, an alternative approach and developed my personal effectiveness. One of the most poignant learnings for me has been to understand that everyone has a different map of the world and the route that I take is not always necessarily the best route.

Throughout life, many of us will, at some point, believe that we know best. It might be that you believe you know the most delicious recipe for making lasagne. You could feel certain the route you take from the office to the gym is the quickest. Or you may be sure that you know the most effective way of handling a challenging team member. Whatever it might be, we all have areas of self-righteousness where we believe we know better than others.

I have certainly been guilty of this on numerous occasions; prone to stubbornness and often feeling frustrated with others for not conforming to my way of doing things. Sometimes I have been so adamant that I knew best, I have completely disregarded the opinions of others, risked falling out with people and closed myself off to discovering new and innovative ideas.

I have learned that being rigid in thinking supresses creativity and in order to encourage growth and development, I need to be open to new ideas, alternative methods and different approaches, not just from others but from myself also.

The courses with Florence have helped me to change my mind-set. They have transformed my approach and enabled me to become an improved version of me.

And this new way of thinking really works! A reporting method that I had been using for months (and which I was convinced was the most effective it could be) is now working even better. One of my colleagues presented an idea that ultimately produced the same outcome but meant that I could achieve it in half the time. I had never considered this alternative approach and previously I might not have considered it. I am so glad that, this time, I did.

Sometimes, your route might turn out to be the best route but next time you find yourself thinking you know best, consider this…What if, just what if, an extra douse of basil makes that lasagne even tastier? What if you could cut our journey time to the gym by five minutes per day? And what if that challenging team member could become one of the team’s greatest assets?

6+3=9 but so does 5+4. The way you do things is not always the only way (or the best way) to do them.

Sarah at Fallbarrow Hall, Windermere on the RISE 2 Programme