Reply To: Exercise 5: Write Others’ Beliefs and Write Society’s Beliefs
5-NOTICING THE BELIEFS OF OTHERS
Society Beliefs:
1. Apparent belief that there is no need to wear a mask for their own or even others’ health when travelling in tight quarters.
2. Belief that climate change represents a threat to business and the human species
3. Belief you can decouple carbon emissions from economic growth sufficiently to live up to the Paris Agreement
4. Belief some new technology will magically appear and solve the above
5. Belief climate change is the only sustainability problem
6. Belief there will continue to be stable prices on energy and materials (when energy expenditures are increasing)
7. Belief that increases in energy efficiencies lead to absolute energy and material reductions in a growth-based system
8. Believing recycling will solve the ecological crisis on it’s own
9. Believing that services have an insignificant, ecological footprint
10. Believing you can be a part of the solution to the ecological crises without addressing inequality
11. Believing minimum wages are enough
12. Believing you have to be the hero (justice is the answer, not charity)
13. Believing net zero – “do no harm” – is enough
14. Believing you can offset carbon emissions and continue business as usual
15. Believing you can only scale impact by growing your company’s size
16. Believing bigger is always better
17. Believing you can wait for legislators to level the playing field before you act sufficiently
Other’s Beliefs and some more of mine that I encountered:
1. Belief that stewardship (my department) should not take on some ownership for product sustainability just because we don’t have enough resources and not our role.
2. Belief that organizations should not aggregate product sustainability metrics to benchmark where we are for fear that they will be reported publicly if the numbers get out.
3. Group’s belief that product stewardship function is not going to change for the better.
4. Belief (business) that it’s ok to not acknowledge some product hazards
5. Belief that society will just have to accept a company’s products even though they have significant environmental footprints
6. Believing you can’t make much of a difference so why try
7. Believing your religion is the only one that got it right
8. Belief that you are meant for greater things and you were put on the earth for a reason
9. Belief that showing an interest in employees and their passions is a motivator for greater achievements
10. Belief that the chemical industry can eliminate hazardous materials and create sustainable product solutions
11. Belief by others that my sustainability projects are turning into something (wants to be a part of them)
12. The leader that thinks it’s ok to cut employees off when they are speaking
REFLECTION
Did you notice any trends?
A number of leadership and sustainability themes. Many of the beliefs were negative or limiting. Brings out the importance of mindset that if you frame in the negative, it becomes self defeating.
How did identifying beliefs feel?
Empowering, exciting like being able to see in the dark where others can’t.
Did you feel like you developed a skill?
Maybe experiencing a new practice. Don’t feel it is a skill yet.
How accurate do you think you were?
All were topics I observed from others through the week. Some were obvious because the person essentially repeated what their belief is. BUT thinking you know what the underlying belief is for a person if they don’t actually say it could be dangerous. It seems easy to make false assumptions.
Did you feel differently about people when you thought of their beliefs?
I suppose so. Need more experience. Helps me understand them better, where they are likely coming from and opens up an opportunity to ask questions to confirm their beliefs. This in turn presents the opportunity to tailer my speech to them for more effective communication and collaboration.
Does reading people’s beliefs make you feel differently about leadership?
It shines a stronger light on how to improve my leadership effectiveness by paying more attention to underlying beliefs that are driving behaviours, opportunity points to relate/connect with people and makes me feel less judgmental at face value about something they might say.
Where and how might you apply your experience in the remainder of your life?
By paying attention to my beliefs and those of others in conversations, whether they are same or different, I can be a much stronger connecter and inspiring leader. Adding the paraphrasing peoples beliefs back to them (something I’m very good at) or asking questions to confirm their beliefs will be much more of a door opener.