Reflection! I always start and end the year with this way. Today is no exception. At dawn, with the light reflecting off the clouds, I picked my child up from the airport and felt gratitude. I start work tomorrow.
Back at home, I had time to enjoy a cup of hot tea which helps to minimize the pain. See, I don’t love to read. I have dyslexia, so it is an incredible amount of work. However, I need to. I am a builder of organizations and an advisor to people. To do my job well, I need to stay current.
Inspired by this morning’s reading, I hope that one New Year’s resolution that everyone makes, or at least 25% of the population (the percentage of people needed to make lasting change), is to practice and demand the inclusion of all voices…not just the loudest, most tenacious, or the most radical. It is human to want to be heard, to be respected for our thoughts. I make this declaration myself (to listen to disparate voices and really hear what is wanted and needed) as I reflect and knit together the items I read this morning:
- Commentary regarding the US Presidential office holder by former democratic Senator Harry Reid and Republican Senator Mitt Romney
- Women – A giant step forward (Rafia Zakaria)
- How Women are changing the face of Congress (BBC)
- Washington Post top ten leadership books (very interested in Loonshots by Safi Bahcall and The Enlightened Capitalists by James O’Toole)
- Annual note from a friend and personal hero who runs a consulting/coaching company in the Washington DC area and supports her children and a disabled husband
- 7 Work Goals for 2019 (Melanie Mannarino) “Incorporate more kindness into professional interactions”
- Mediterranean Diet data from US News Health
Imagine what would be accomplished if 25% of the population pooled their resources (thoughts, actions, etc.) to focus on the inclusion of all truth-bound voices and to act on those ideas:
- It would be harder to choose a presidential (or any other political) candidate because they would all be equally as good for the whole country and better represent those in the middle (my examples: Ohio Governor John Kasich; Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper).
- Infrastructure would become a priority, not a footnote. The American Society of Civil Engineers has given our infrastructure a “D” or “D+” since 2001. Do we really want to find out what “F” looks like?
- Entrepreneurship would be on the rise. In my anecdotal experience, many would-be entrepreneurs have family members who have preexisting conditions and need affordable healthcare (which may come through their current employer).
- We would bring our healthy, creative, best selves to work and our lives.
Don’t we deserve to thrive? Wouldn’t we be more likely to do so if we listened to all truth-bound voices? Just something to think about as we start a new year.
Originally posted on LinkedIn January 2, 2019
Image courtesy of PIXNIO