Catching Up - a series: today with Ian Weinberg

I am posting this is an “Out of the Comment Box” buzz as I am catching up on the works of some of the producers here on beBee. 

Today, I am catching up with Ian Weinberg.

In, Respect begins at home, Ian writes:
Unless you can respect yourself, warts and all, you cannot respect others. …the concept of self-respect includes…the acknowledgement of one’s unique value-contributing potential.
The key requirement for arriving at self-respect is self-awareness…Self-awareness is similar to self-respect in this way – as we respect self so we respect others and the environment and similarly, as we become aware of self we become aware of others, the greater environment and our place in that greater space.
And so I would suggest that long before general coaching and instruction is implemented to enhance wellness, personal performance or the business fundamentals, we need to ensure that intrinsic values and ethics based on self-respect exist within the individual (and within the organization as a whole).

In, Pop, Ian writes:
Sorry to pop your bubble but there’s no justice in the world. Never has been and never will be. You see, the most important determinants that went into making who you are and what you do were made without consulting you – your nature-nurture heritage. And before you could shout out “it’s not fair” you were let loose as an independent soul into the big bad world.
We are who we are and will be so until our end. Seek not afar or too deeply within, for your salvation lies in simple things. Be curious and embrace that which gratifies you.

In, An authentic lead, Ian writes:
Fundamental to the concept of leadership is accountability. At this time wherein we find ourselves, accountability has extended way beyond simple success or failure. Accountability now includes in addition, ethical governance, the mental and physical wellbeing of the employees, respect for the local community as well as respect for the extended environment.
To be an authentic leader and to fulfill all the facets of accountability one needs to be familiar with and apply several tiers of behaviour. Tier one, the foundation of this multi-tier structure, is a non-judgemental sensitivity, awareness and respect for self, others and the environment...At the core…are three modes of engagement – deletion, distortion and generalization (the NLP violations).
Only once this fundamental tier is defined and the violations neutralized to enable non-judgemental sensitivity, can we add the next tier. This is the value contribution tier – making self, others and the extended environment, better than it was before you engaged.
The final tier is gratitude. This is truly the mark of an authentic leader for it encompasses sensitivity, awareness, respect and value contribution.

In, A place under the sun, Ian writes:
Evolution is not promoted by the warm fuzzies of dripping oxytocin. Evolution is spurred by crisis, challenge and perturbation. 
Those of us that progressed to tertiary education experienced the rigors and challenges of critique which spurred us on to learn, reason and become more aware of ourselves and the extended environment.
It is the nature of beBee to provide a platform for free interaction between many different people, from all walks of life. But there are challenges in that the subject matter is not all merely social interaction. There are professionals who emanate from academic environments similar to my own…In addition, many have previously or continue to, manage companies...These individuals are in a very different space from those lay individuals who express general interest...Potential conflict may arise when the lay individual engages an authority in a specific field, with an article which is based on unauthenticated or non validated data…Underlying this interaction is the drive to contribute value to the subject at hand and to the engaging individuals. And indeed things can become robust and even aggressive in the pursuit of a mutually acceptable resolution at the expense of sensitivity. 
Here the emphasis is on non-judgemental respect, sensitivity and empathy. It is when the two worlds are melded in one that problems arise. The aggressive pursuit of factual authenticity may tread on the toes of personal sensitivity to the point that the ‘aggressor’ is perceived as inflicting a personal attack on the receiver.
I do not wish to see censorship and ‘filtering’ on beBee. I believe that if we transcend our respective subjectivities through awareness of the bigger picture, we can establish a mutually agreeable mode of interaction. It’s not ‘us’ and ‘you’ but a supportive collective…in which there is a place for everyone under the sun.