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Do you invite thinking or evict thinking?

Guest post by: Anne Warfield

Article Overview: It amazes me how many people feel the necessity to strongly inflict their opinions on others. For me that is always a clear signal that they need to have other people validate them.

Do you invite thinking or evict thinking?

It amazes me how many people feel the necessity to strongly inflict their opinions on others. For me that is always a clear signal that they need to have other people validate them. Strong leaders are those who are willing to make quick decisions, listen carefully taking in all information-even contradictory information, and make each person feel they added to the conversation in a thoughtful way. Strong leaders know how to challenge without undermining who you are or making it personal.

So which are you as a leader? Do you invite thinking or do you evict thinking?

Here is quick test to see which one you are:

1. I have strong opinions.

2. I often speak over other people or interrupt.

3. I often reply to people with "no," "I disagree," or "That is not how I see it."

4. In a group I often take the most air time.

5. People often tease me that they always know where I stand on issues.

6. I have been told at times I am stubborn.

If you answered yes to those, you are more likely evicting thinking. You are more likely to be surrounded by people who will say yes to your ideas and not challenge your thinking. For leadership that means the brilliance of your group is really not the sum of the parts but rather a part.

Opinions and thoughts are good. You do need to stand for clear issues and be willing to stand up for what you believe in. When you state them so strongly as to overpower a person or group you leave them with two choices- either I agree with you or I disagree with you. What you lose is the mutual exploration ground that leads to new thinking that is much bigger than either party originally brought to the table solo.

So be a strong leader that is willing to invite thinking, that is willing to stand for things, and that encourages others.

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Article Tags: communication, leaders, leadership, thinking



Related Forum Posts
Are you Self Employed or a Business Woman? - Us women are especially vulnerable to thinking we can do EVERYTHING ourselves! I'm not immune to this way of thinking either. (It seems to go with the territory of having XX chromosomes and growing up in our North American culture.) Anyhow, this kind of thinking can actually trip us women up when it comes to business. I've heard it said that a true business is something you create that can eventually run by itself. A business is meant to give us freedom and not tie us down. A business works FOR YOU. If you are the one working FOR YOUR BUSINESS, then I invite you to open up to the possibility of using your entrepreneur skills to recreate a business that works for you. When I was first challenged on this concept, it was a huge AHA moment. I am grateful because I realized I was still a little stuck on working harder instead of working smarter. I've opened up to a whole new world of possibility and now I'm thinking MUCH BIGGER than before. I expect my income will be much bigger as well. In all honesty, I've realized that my coaching business has been a glorified job. I will still do coaching because I love to do it, but now I am in the process of developing multiple streams of income that use my time more efficiently and products that sell even while I'm on holidays. I'm also developing a retail store which will eventually mostly run itself. Then I will move on to my next project. It's liberating to be on the path of creating businesses that work FOR me. This is how I can run multiple companies without wearing out! In fact, I plan on having MORE time for me. So, what are you doing? Are you self employed or running a business?
Re: help wanted in u.k. - Thanks from me as well, for the insights It has got me thinking now, and thinking usually leads to further action. cheers Brendan
Re: Don’t worry, Enrich your life and Be happy - [quote="lisa":1rc4ik2q]Start saying positive things especially about yourself. How you communicate to yourself affects your thinking and your emotions, as well as your self-esteem.Change your mental pictures. What and how you see yourself and your surroundings make a difference to your thinking.Read more. Read about how those people who fought fear with courage and succeeded in life. Through reading, you will gain new knowledge and understanding and it will help you clear whatever is blocking your thinking and create more ideas. [/quote:1rc4ik2q] Lisa is right about this. Positive self talk can really make a difference. When you catch yourself saying something negative (whether verbally or just thinking it), turn it around and make it into the opposite. You have to remember to do this continually until it's just habit that the positive thought/saying becomes the first thing you hear instead of the second. It becomes automatic.
Re: New footer bar - Hey folks, I reckon Evan is an Internet fashionista as I have noticed this bar in one or two other sites and they are in different colours. Now this got me thinking, my hometown football club (or soccer) play in vertical black and white stripes and I was thinking---------could I-------maybe ?, no, just being silly, have a great weekend everyone, regards, Mal.
Re: Team, Need your Help . . . . - Hey Trent, Thank you for taking the time to lay out some ideas. What I meant by "pretty fast" was my new business will take up alot of thinking and doing. I dont want to do something in addition that will compete (too much) for all that thinking and doing. I will review it all tomorrow. Thanks a million! Regards Barry


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