The Power of Perspective

source: veryfunnypics.eu

There is an age-old adage that “You can’t understand someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.” But in reality, most of us go through our lives judging others based on our version of what’s right. It’s as automatic as breathing. The simple concept of looking at things from another’s perspective is simply not baked into how we roll. Even if you might consider walking in their shoes, it feels like such a burden. It’s hard enough to manage our own reactions, let alone having to carry the load of everyone else’s perspectives. But that is false premise. I’ll use a situation to illustrate what I’m talking about.

Situation: A COO I coach recently hired a VP to run People Operations/HR for her. She’s wondering if she made the right hire. Here are some details:

• The VP’s been on board for about 2 months and is starting to come up to speed, though he’s voiced concerns about “not getting the big picture” yet. This is making him want to dive into the weeds versus focusing on higher level strategic initiatives. In addition, he started just before the global pandemic necessitated working from home, so he’s basically having to learn a new job and form new relationships without the benefit of any in person time with his new coworkers. He runs People Operations and his career success has been built on forming strong relationships with people, typically in person. He is way out of his…