If an idea or a political opinion evokes emotion in you, that is normal. Remember you can choose to pause before you respond.

The GoTeam Quick Look:

• Few events bring out WIN/LOSE thinking quite as powerfully as national elections do. This often has people getting into right or wrong thinking and sparks intense debates.
• Here’s an opportunity to practice what we’ve been exploring in our Exceed Institute and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People sessions.

How do you handle potentially divisive yet necessary events like elections?

As we write this, 98.2 percent of all election returns have been processed in the partial and unofficial tally for the May 2022 elections. Former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos leads with 31.07 million votes over Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo, who has 14.8 million.

Here’s the message that GoTeam Founder Matt Kesby sent all of us the day after the elections.

You are in Control

Election time can be polarizing.

So much energy goes into winning and avoiding losing.

The process is both dividing and forming in its nature.

The process is competitive and requires a WIN and a LOSS.

WIN/LOSE thinking often has people getting into right or wrong thinking and generates big debates.

During this time, remember the power you have to value the diversity of opinions, demonstrate respect, and understand the fundamental human need to have our voices heard.

Have you ever seen two people debating, where no one is listening to each other, so they start raising their voices and then commence to shout in an attempt to be heard? (Effective? Not so much.) 

And have you ever noticed how once a person feels understood, they are more open to listening to your point of view?

Consider this: Allow people to have their opinions and share their ideas, without judgment (not easy, but possible). Reflect back on what they say and feel with an inquisitive mind, (calmly and respectfully), then share your view and even invite them back to comment.

You will find the process very empowering when you look at people’s views with abundance (love) and not scarcity (fear) driven by the need to be right.

If an idea evokes emotion in you, that is normal.

Remember the power of Habit 1 “To be proactive” and “Live above the line” teaches us that WE have the power to choose our “thoughts, feelings, responses, and actions.”

No one can cause you to feel an emotion. It is how we think in response to a stimulus that creates the emotion in our bodies (you are in control).

Care for your teammates, family, and society, and embrace diversity.

Be humble in winning and gracious in defeat.

Most of all, Act with Love.

The 7 Habits at Work

“Act with Love” was our strategic theme for 2020 and it proved very useful as we went through all the novel challenges (quarantine, uncertainty, the rapid shift to working from home) unleashed in the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic.

We’re fortunate that from March to April this year, right in the middle of the official campaign period, our internal team joined a series of discovery sessions that Matt led, focused on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

We don’t know exactly how many political debates on Facebook or Twitter were averted because team members had Habit 5 in mind.

We do know that this habit— “Seek first to understand, then to be understood” —is a challenge.