Tag Archives: Compassion

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How to reject divisiveness and make people feel valued

Guest Post by Jane Perdue

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TODAY is the International Day of Peace!

This is the 4th article in a series to highlight what each of us can do to bring more peace to our world.

  • The first three articles are linked at the bottom of this post.

I’m honored to include the post below from Jane Perdue, the CEO/Principal at Braithwaite Innovation Group, a friend and one of the co-author’s of the book, The Character-Based Leader…  Instigating A Leadership Revolution…  One Person at a Time.

Jane-Perdue-300x300I live in Charleston, South Carolina. In just a few days this past summer, my heart went from being broken by a senseless crime motivated by hate to being uplifted by people choosing to forgive, not fight or retaliate. Given my awe and respect at how my community handled this tragedy, Chery’s invitation to write about how leaders can limit division and create peace was incredibly serendipitous.

Retaliation and revenge are powerful motivators. We want to right the real or perceived wrong.

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You’re Invited: To Celebrate Our Book Launch & Beyond!

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377028_10151043037557083_218040194_nIn September of 2012 I launched a book with 20 other co-authors that are deeply passionate about the overwhelming need for Character-Based Leaders to Instigate A Leadership Revolution in our world.

  • The need is still there.
  • Our passion was spot on.
  • And the book received great reviews.

However, it was a first book for most of us and there was so much we didn’t know.

One of the biggest learning’s was that after more than a year of collaborating, writing, and editing our book…   Getting it published and celebrating wasn’t the end of the story – it was only the beginning.

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Is forgiveness an overlooked leadership skill?

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If you’re like me – You believe in the faith-based and health-based reasons to practice forgiveness.

But have you ever considered that forgiveness might be an important leadership skill?

In the book Picking Cotton, two people share their true story:

  • They are both 23.
  • She’s white, a senior in college with a 4.0 and looking forward to starting her career, marrying her boyfriend and having a family.
  • He is a person of color, working, and has a history of making some unwise choices.

One night she is at home alone and a man breaks into her apartment and rapes her.Picking Cotton

She is able to escape and eventually identifies this man as her rapist.

He insists that she is mistaken.

She is convinced that her memory is correct and makes a strong witness for the prosecution.

He is convicted and goes to prison for 11 years. (In spite of the fact that he continually says he is innocent, in spite of the fact that he meets the man in prison that actually committed the crime, and in spite of the fact that his blood type does not match the blood type found at the scene.)

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EXTREME TESTING: Practicing what you believe in

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This week has been filled with the wrapping up of several projects, the planning of future projects, and the packing of suitcases for a much-needed break.

And in that space, I’ve been pondering the past few months.

This fall was a season of EXTREME TESTING.  (Only the teacher forgot to warn me that the tests were coming so I didn’t get to study.  And truthfully, I didn’t realize how much testing was occuring – until things slowed down and I paused to reflect.)

It’s worth noting that although the tests were different, one theme was repeated over and over again:  When I’m under-fire ~Do I really practice what I say I believe in and write about?  (A sampling of some of the tests are listed below on the left, previous articles are on the right.)

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Healing the Racial Gap between The Dream & The Reality

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Have you ever tried hard to change a situation?
Have you ever gotten frustrated when change doesn’t seem to be happening?
And in the midst of that frustration…  Have you ever had anyone slap a victim label on your forehead?

Years ago I was dealing with a situation like that at work.  When I shared that frustration with an executive…  He told me that I needed to stop being a victim.

beating your head against the wallI was shocked.

I thought I had spent the past three years doing everything in my power to take ownership of a reporting process that was a potential risk to the company – a risk that was growing as the organization grew.

I had involved several key-stakeholders, I had shared concerns, I had collaborated on how to handle the present situation.  

…And I consistently believed that one of them would take the necessary steps to create change before this process had to be repeated again.

 How was it possible that my efforts to be an owner were perceived as being a victim?