Washington, DC is my home. On January 6, 2021, American terrorists came in and attempted a coup. In.My.Home.
For some of you, it may be “business as usual” today. But here, in the Nation’s Capital, it is anything but. The air is somber, yet resilient because we know that we will come back stronger than before. We have hope for better days ahead.
But the responsibility doesn’t just fall on those who live here in DC. It falls on each one of us, of you. Every single citizen in America. I encourage you to ask yourselves the hard questions. Please. Take a hard look at the conversations you’ve had with your neighbors and around the dinner table. This may seem like a post that doesn’t have anything to do with my business or yours, but I assure you, it does.
The conversations you have, the small talk you endure, and the polite phrases we say to each other is a wall we put up. It’s a conditioning we have learned from a small age. It informs how you conduct your business behind closed doors. It speaks volumes in the way you treat your team members and make no mistake, it bleeds into your company policies.
After the events of yesterday, please ask yourself the hard questions. Please do talk about politics. Please do talk about religion. Please do talk about the hard things on social media and in your business. Because suppressing your thoughts and feelings is not helping your state of mental health and it allows for you to think certain things are okay, when they’re not. Submit yourself to checks and balances. Audit yourself. Audit your business. Please learn tact. Please learn how to express your thoughts and feelings. These go hand in hand. Above all, please learn how to LISTEN. Really try to see where the other side is coming from.
Today may seem like another day to you, but it’s not. We must move forward. We must do better. We must, learn how to mourn without point fingers, lament without gloating, and listen without accusing.