Treat People Like People

I worked with an individual for many years who was an excellent leader. I made a point of spending a lot of time with him because, I learned a lot. His wisdom came down to a pretty basic but powerful idea to treat people like people. I often reflect on this concept. I think it holds a lot more water in our current climate than it has at any point in my lifetime.

More and more, I am finding that as we become more tribal, we are not treating people with the basic human dignity that makes many things go so much easier. Too often we are looking at people as numbers or resources. They are worker hours or votes. They are revenue sources or benefit allocations. They are their role not their soul.

While we are able to predict human behaviour and it is amazing how often people fall into line and do what we expect them to do, that does not mean that they are not individuals. Just because we can push someone’s buttons and elicit a highly predictable result, it does not mean that they don’t have hopes or fears.

So, how do we treat people like people?

We listen. People want to be heard. They want an opportunity to express their opinions. They want to know their point of view has been considered. Most people will understand if their idea isn’t used, especially if they are given an explanation. However, they want to be heard.

At least some of the time we give them what they want.. If it doesn’t cause undue hardship and supports the broader goals, you should have someone do what they want to do. Let them set up their work as they see fit. Let them set their priorities. Let them stumble and learn. They will feel like they matter.

We ask them for help. Too many people are going through life not being acknowledged as a resource. Asking for help shows that you trust someone. It builds a relationship. It makes the person feel valued.

Most importantly, we acknowledge their situation. We make it known that their struggles and triumphs are seen. We make them feel like a valued individual.

COVID messed with us and in this recovery, which will probably last a lot longer than the most serious part of the pandemic, is not going well. We are losing are humanity and we are not doing some of the basics as well as we used to, like treating people like people.

Tumbleweed

I was in a shopping mall in a rather affluent part of Winnipeg today. There were almost no customers in there. I understand that 5:15 pm on Tuesday September 1st is not the biggest shopping day of the year but nearly all the stores had no one buying in them.

They, whoever they are, are saying this recession is over and we are on the long road to recovery. I have never seen sales this sluggish in my adult life. The lowest of the low was not as weak as things appeared today.

When I think back to my entry level economics class I remember that economics is the study of human behavior in the face of scarcity and money is a means of exchange. Thinking about this not much acquiring behaviour was happening and money exchanging.

This worries me. Winnipeg faired quite well during the recent economic down turn, but it seems that it has slowly caught up with some of the harder hit areas of the country. There just seems to be less going on. We may be slowly and innoculously slipping into a worse state. The only way to turn around an economy is to spend money, increase tranactions by both value and frequency. I think everyone is sitting back and letting others fix the economy. I am tending toward saving. It seems right to take care of myself, but it doesn't help stimulate things.

I realize things will not be as hot as they were for a long time and there are parts of the country that are in much worse state than Winnipeg, but it makes me worry.

The mall seemed rather empty, I hope it was an anomoly, but I don't get that feeling.