Episode #14 Look Beyond Yourself

One of the most critical skills that leaders can master is the ability to see the bigger picture. Dr. Michael Brown has a conversation this week with Casey Greenawalt about a counterintuitive key to personal growth.

Show Notes

Life is bigger than me. I’m not the only person here.
Dr. Gabe Dunbar

Three Problems

  • Our default posture in life is to look no further than our own desires.
  • We will never become the best versions of ourselves if we only ever look at ourselves.
  • Until we take the time to consider others’ perspectives, our perspectives will remain incomplete.

Three Principles

  • We may be the main characters in our own story, but we are not the main characters in everybody’s story.
  • Paradoxically, the more of ourselves that we offer to others, the more of ourselves we will have left to give.
  • Great questions deepen relationships, increase understanding, and elicit questions in return.

Three Practices

  • Enter each environment committed to being more interested in others than interesting to others.
  • Regularly utilize the phrases “Help me understand…” and “Tell me more about…” prior to sharing your own perspectives.
  • Approach conflict with the question, “How is this affecting us?” rather than with the question, “How is this affecting me?”