My neighbor sees double. The doctors tell him cataract surgery is not a viable option due to his unusual sight issues. He wears “coke bottle” glasses, has had “slicing’ surgery before, and has a stigmatism. That is the condition of his physical sight.
His mental sight – his worldview – is equally restricted. He is a retired scientist (post-doctoral level) with a regimented life: ride his bike 30 miles each morning, shower, eat breakfast, watch TV news (3 primary sources) until 3pm when he cooks the designated meal for that day (Thursday is pizza). He makes his own yogurt and bread and used to grow tomatoes, but that became too much trouble.
He is a kind man, open hearted and giving, though with limited social contact because of his impatience with uneducated people, Our conversations are about the news – mostly from his perspective. We have established an amiable flow and share internet and TV service.
REFLECT:
What do you think his worldviews are?
Try to do it without judgment or blame.
Another neighbor walks across the back of my property to her parked car, because it is the shortest route. Last year, I put a fig tree in that back corner (an environmental placement), which triggered an ongoing “feud” about my making it hard for her to walk that way. My lovely 7 foot fig tree is now a 3 foot high bush, thanks to her helpful pruning gardener friend. And her path to her car is cleared.
She is a center of information, and uses it (gossip) to maintain an informal leadership role in the neighborhood. Once confronted with the fig tree cutting, she went to victim mode – the misaligned good woman.
REFLECT:
What do you think his worldviews are?
Try to do it without judgment or blame.
In a previous blog about 9/11, I defined worldview as follows:
A worldview is a personal belief system that guides how we live our lives. It is our overall perspective for interpreting the world. World views include religious templates – Christian, Sikh, Atheist, Judaism, Hindu , Buddhist, Mormon, etc. A worldview can also include attitudes – optimism, determinism, compassion, skepticism, ambition, resilience, tolerance, etc. It can include philosophical and ideological templates – capitalism, communism, monarchism, democracy, conservatism, libertarianism, etc.
Some state it more simply:
Philosophy of Life – Carl Jung
World Outlook – Abraham Maslow
Some state it more complexly:
…a cognitive, perceptual, and affective domain that has also been conceptualized in many different ways given the perspective of the theorist or the researcher (Hart)
For my definition of “how you see it”, I envision a person wearing a pair of mental glasses. The lenses are a blend of socialization from childhood, altered by experiences and challenges over time. Just as we forget our glasses are on during the day (if we wear glasses full time), we forget we are filtering everything through our worldview lens. Though mostly unconscious, our worldviews are our outlook on life and contain beliefs, values and assumptions about people, relationships, time, activity… that govern our decision-making and problem solving.
Leadership studies / degrees include classes on worldview, most often presented in abstract language without practical application. I like to “keep it real” – and see leadership theory through my mental lenses. in everyday life. And reflects on how I demonstrated leadership in everyday situations.
For instance, how would I “lead” my scientist neighbor, whose worldview is regimented around his intelligence, singular approach to information, and health regime? The Laissez-Faire approach has proven the most effective in similar situations.
* Define the goal / desired output, provide the resources, and maintain a distance. Allow as much self direction as possible.
* When new information needs to be integrated, start with an open end – such as “could you review this information / article / etc. and let me know if it has any value for us?” If possible, have him brief others on his thoughts – through report or email, though not in a meeting where he could feel challenged and react.
* When changes are needed, make suggestions starting with “for your consideration” or “what do you think about…?”
In contrast, my entitled / victim neighbor is unmanageable and unleadable. Her worldview is about getting her desired outcomes, and can rationalize / justify irregular (illegal) behavior to attain them. Playing the informal leader plus victim roles, she enlists others to pitcher and do the “dirty work” for her, leading to team dysfunction. This is an employee I would document / terminate.
While I cannot fire a neighbor, I can eliminate contact. When she approached me, I calmly informed her I did not want to communicate inane way. When she continued talking, I walked away. I was non-responsive to her texts. And I asked the manager for a “gag rule” for both of us. Now, I am installing surveillance cameras – though it’s like locking the corral AFTER the horses got out!
So how do I feel about “leading” in these minor situations? When asked about it by neighbors, my “formal leadership response” was: “Do you know how long it has been since I was in the third grade? I don’t operate on this level.” And refrained from further discussion.
In my personal / private thought process, I was challenged to shift from the worldview:
this is ridiculous: what a waste of my time and energy: I’m above this to the worldview:
Perhaps I am supposed to model leadership in this situation to the community: I am grateful I have the skills to deal with this without drama: I have compassion for someone with a dysfunctional worldview
APPLY
Identify a situation in your non-professional life that could require your leadership skills / abilities – where you could model a different approach.
Plan a strategy to address it.
After you have acted, assess your effectiveness.
Worldview and language are natural partners. See the next blog on that topic
