Leader Development Group http://www.leaderdevelopmentgroup.com By David Bernard-Stevens Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:00:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 By David Bernard-Stevens no Respect: The Wanting to Hear Another’s Voice http://www.leaderdevelopmentgroup.com/2009/12/respect-the-wanting-to-hear-anothers-voice/ http://www.leaderdevelopmentgroup.com/2009/12/respect-the-wanting-to-hear-anothers-voice/#comments Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:07:48 +0000 David Bernard-Stevens http://www.leaderdevelopmentgroup.com/?p=441

I was reading through a particularly interesting thread within the site of leadership group called “Leaders Café Foundation”. The thread dealt with the simple concept of the sincerity of people when asking others the question, “How are you?” I began to think about my own life and the countless times I asked the “How are you?” question while having no real interest but pretending to care. This may sound harsh, but as I think back on my nine year legislative career, the mind set was image and spin…. image and spin. This ended up being the main reason I finally resigned as I was becoming someone that, deep down in my spirit, I knew I could not become without losing myself… forever.

So what does that have to do with this thread you ask? Well, as I began to find myself again and go through the difficult yet rewarding journey of self-leadership, I discovered that one of my core values was “respect” or at least that is the word I chose that explained what I was trying to express from my spirit. To me “respect” is that I give each person I meet my absolute attention not because it is the right thing to do or it is culturally considered to be good manners, but because I truly WANT to know and to understand who they are, to get a sense of what is behind their beliefs and world view, and to experience another individual created by the same Universe or God that created my spirit. To me, if I do this, then it is paying each person I meet with the utmost of respect… that I truly care and wish to hear their voice. For if I truly wish for my voice to be heard, the first step is to hear the voices of others and the rest will follow.

So now, when I say, “How are you?” to someone, I look them squarely in their eyes and take the time to truly hear their response. To me it is now a matter of being in alignment with one of my core values… and I must say, the tenor and quality of my relationships have changed dramatically. People have noted the change in my behaviour and they have responded in kind. The impact of my being true to this core value I call “respect” has been nothing short of amazing… and yet not.

May your voice be heard this day…
David

]]> http://www.leaderdevelopmentgroup.com/2009/12/respect-the-wanting-to-hear-anothers-voice/feed/ 0 <p></p><p>I was reading through a particularly interesting thread within the site of leadership group called “Leaders Café Foundation”. The thread dealt with the simple concept of the sincerity of people when asking others the question, “How are you?” I began to think about my own life and the countless times I asked the “How are you?” question while having no real interest but pretending to care. This may sound harsh, but as I think back on my nine year legislative career, the mind set was image and spin…. image and spin. This ended up being the main reason I finally resigned as I was becoming someone that, deep down in my spirit, I knew I could not become without losing myself… forever. </p> <p>So what does that have to do with this thread you ask? Well, as I began to find myself again and go through the difficult yet rewarding journey of self-leadership, I discovered that one of my core values was “respect” or at least that is the word I chose that explained what I was trying to express from my spirit. To me “respect” is that I give each person I meet my absolute attention not because it is the right thing to do or it is culturally considered to be good manners, but because I truly WANT to know and to understand who they are, to get a sense of what is behind their beliefs and world view, and to experience another individual created by the same Universe or God that created my spirit. To me, if I do this, then it is paying each person I meet with the utmost of respect… that I truly care and wish to hear their voice. For if I truly wish for my voice to be heard, the first step is to hear the voices of others and the rest will follow.</p> <p>So now, when I say, “How are you?” to someone, I look them squarely in their eyes and take the time to truly hear their response. To me it is now a matter of being in alignment with one of my core values… and I must say, the tenor and quality of my relationships have changed dramatically. People have noted the change in my behaviour and they have responded in kind. The impact of my being true to this core value I call “respect” has been nothing short of amazing… and yet not. </p> <p>May your voice be heard this day…<br /> David</p> I was reading through a particularly interesting thread within the site of leadership group called “Leaders Café Foundation”. The thread dealt with the simple concept of the sincerity of people when asking others the question, “How are [...]