We could fill up a page with all the methods we employ to classify someone else.
And it’s not all bad. Face it; if I’m going to get to know you, I have first to determine whether or not our commonalities are likely to make this a worthwhile proposition.
We have to be able to get a ‘reading’ on someone – it’s just too dangerous to dive in without this initial step.
Or is it?
If fear of a perceived lack of commonality prevents us from extending ourselves, one to another, how on earth are we going to uncover the less obvious things on which we comfortably agree?
We operate according to our feelings - those notoriously unreliable impulses which lead us around by the nose. Acting solely out of the realm of what we feel and perceive is most often a guaranteed recipe for disaster in the all-important arena of diversity.
It’s simply not possible for us to establish that which binds us if we don’t initially, reach out a hand that might, and I stress might, get bitten.
How to overcome our natural reluctance to engage with those who appear different from us – step out in the belief that most everyone else is as scared as we are and therein lies a huge, shared, commonality!
Staff Training presents a number of workshops addressing Diversity, Etiquette and Equality, contact us at 0861 996 660 or drop us an email.