It is amazing that despite all the development in management, human resources, leadership and organizational behavior, we are still missing the whole point about the very basics in human relationships.  It is about genuine listening to others; not to sympathize with them, but to understand and respect their perspective.  It is about being humble, by not believing and getting stuck in the “my way is the right/only way” box.

In the corporate world, categorizing others as bad or an expression such as “there is no chemistry between me and him” are mantras. Why?! Very simply, because by saying this I take off all the responsibility from my shoulders to really make any effort to try to understand the challenge and do something about the issues in the relationship. Instead I put this responsibility on something else (the chemistry!) or someone else (the bad guy!).

It takes indeed strength, courage and maturity to acknowledge that we are a part of the problem, as long as we believe it is out there and we can’t do anything about it. That is what leadership is all about. It is about taking responsibility of our relationships, understanding and respecting others’ perspective; not locking ourselves in our own world. No wonder there is lack of leaders in the corporate world.