Lecture
4
Necessary Conditions
It is one thing to want to get along with others, to treat others
with respect, and to work in a harmonious setting. It is yet another
thing to carefully identify and meet the conditions necessary for
such conditions to emerge and become reality. In this lecture we
will address this important issue because unless these conditions
are met you cannot expect that very much positive change will occur.
When you meet the conditions, you will be a happier, more productive
person.
The work of the psychologist Carl Rogers is helpful to business
people and teachers who wish to create a participatory, honest, open,
reflective environment. Rogers described several priorities of life.
He made it clear that we need to work diligently in order to develop
these priorities. He never suggested that this is an easy task. Most
things worthwhile are not particularly easy.
The first priority is to develop
a climate of trust. Many children
and adolescents have never learned to trust others. This is unfortunate
but true. You will need to make a conscious effort to model trust
in your workplace or classroom. To experience trust in others, you
must first learn to trust them. You must also be a person who can
be trusted. You must give others reasons to trust you. As others
learn that you are a person to be trusted, the atmosphere changes
in a positive way. Remember that a lack of trust breeds shame and
intolerance, and a trust-filled environment breeds openness and caring.
A second priority is to develop
a participatory environment of decision making. If you are in a position of leadership, learn to
ask others how they feel about things. Democracy works best when
well-informed citizens share in the processes of deciding. You need
to think of your students or fellow workers as citizens whom you
expect to make thoughtful decisions. The idea of the person who keeps
to him/herself, offers little or nothing to the group but does reasonably
good work is inadequate in this context. Active participation in
life is crucial.
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The sociologist Richard Spady writes that every decision made in
an organization should be made at the most primary or basic level
possible. This means that ordinary people, not just a few leaders,
should be involved in decision making. The reason for this is that
there is no other way to establish a participatory environment of
decision making. Those organizations that work best, whether they
are businesses, governments, or schools, are those that have learned
that democracy is not an abstract concept but something you practice
daily.
A third priority is to help
other people prize themselves. On the
surface this may seem a rather difficult thing to do. However, it
is rather simple. You need to begin by treating other people with
respect. Show consideration to others. Value them as human beings.
Respect for others begins with self-respect. In fact, the way you
treat others offers clues to what you think about yourself. Self-respect
means accepting who we are, liking ourselves, and even being aware
of our limitations without undue worry. By treating others with respect,
by treating them with dignity, whatever their ability, you will make
a major contribution to their own sense and acceptance of who they
are.
A fourth necessary condition is one in which you model
enthusiasm and optimism. This condition implies two things. First, you must
become an enthusiastic person. Learn to enjoy life, to show energy,
to show interest in others. Enthusiasm is contagious. As you show
enthusiasm, others will as well. Secondly, you must become an optimistic
person. An optimistic person truly believes that other people are
good, that life is worth living, that we can make a positive difference
in our lives and in the lives of others. It has been shown that enthusiastic,
optimistic people are happier, more productive, and are better liked
by fellow workers and others than are people who are unhappy and
pessimistic.
Reaching out to others and showing that you care about them is
admittedly easier for some teachers than for others. But our lives
are not designed merely to be easy. It has been said that all true
learning engages the emotions. People learn best when they feel some
sense of excitement about what they are doing. This type of excitement
comes in many forms. Some workers and teachers are far more outgoing
and flamboyant than others. This is not the point. Any form of emotional
involvement and discovery will communicate to others. You cannot
hide it from them because they will sense it in you.
The necessary conditions of life in the workplace or in schools
that we have addressed here are actually rather simple. But they
are significant. If you implement them, you will experience a changed
environment, one that is at once more intellectually, socially, and
morally satisfying and profound. I said the conditions are simple,
yes, but it takes a great deal of commitment to make them come alive.
It also takes time, and you ought not to be discouraged by little
setbacks along the way. But it is worth the effort. Your workplace
or classroom will become a place of trust, of participation, of respect
for self and others, and a place where the excitement of discovery
reigns.
Questions to Discuss with Others:
- There is a saying that, "trust builds
trust." What
do you think this means?
- Why do you think two people will view the same situation
so differently?
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