I want to give you a perfect world scenario for how interactions would be if I had my choice. This is a perfect case, and I'll give the example of my own case.

Example Scenario

In this very video right now, there are some people doing work outside my window. I have no control over it. They're leaf blowing. I don't know that you can hear, but I think you can hear. Even if I use noise reduction in the audio editing, you can still hear people working outside. We're going to use that for our example.

Honesty and Respect

An honest person. This is what I would. The world I want to live in. I will honestly tell you, I apologize. There are people blowing leaves. I am sorry for the noise. I understand it, it's my fault. But I was only able to film this video in a certain set amount of time. It just happened to be that there was this noise interference. So you see, I'm honest. I'm not manipulating you. I'm not saying you're using headphones that are too sensitive or you should do this or you should do this. The blame is on me, and I admit fault. There's a level of respect that you should give people when they admit fault just because it's honest and sincere.

Now, of course, that doesn't live by itself because if you only admit fault, people will walk all over you. So you need two parties to play the same game. So if I was on the other end, if I was a student in this course, I would say, of course it does bother me to have a little extra noise. It's harder to listen. But I understand that you're dealing with this issue of the noise. I understand you having time constraints, and I'll do my best to work through it.

Moving Forward Together

The next level question will be, how can. This isn't available in this scenario of filming the video. But the next question might be, well, how can I help you move forward in the best way? Because it's not just admitting fault, but it's how do we move forward together better.

So if it was a professional situation, you're on a team with someone and somebody says, you know, I did this. It wasn't perfect. My response will be, that's okay. Everybody runs into challenges and makes mistakes, even sometimes. But tell me, how can I help you make better, do better next time. And one extra thing I can say is I can thank them for, hey, but thank you for trying your best even in this imperfect situation. I appreciate the hard work and I appreciate the timeliness with which you delivered the video or whatever it is that's being done, right?

So you say, good job doing whatever they're doing. I understand that you couldn't do it. Your reasons are valid. And then the third thing is, how can we move forward better? And you become. You open the door for them to brainstorm with you precisely how to make things better next time. Maybe in my case, I would have to buy a studio where it's extra quiet, or I would have to film in other times of the day or open up different times of the day of my schedule, which I actually did. I just didn't know the noise was going to be at that time when I scheduled it. It's a hazard of filming.

Creating a Kind Environment

But that's the ideal world where everybody is sincere and supportive. This is opposite of gaslighting, because no one's manipulating. It's an environment of love, not romantic love, but of kindness, that kind of love. And that's a world that I would want to live in.

Applying This to the Workplace

Now, why am I talking about this? Number one, I like talking about this. But really, for a workplace environment, when you're building your team, when you're adding members, when you're subtracting members, when you're applying for a job, you want to find out, what is the culture like? You can ask questions like that, what is the culture like? But people will always say, our culture is great. You want to dive deeper. And maybe an interview question may be, hey, somebody on. If your team. If somebody on your team makes an error, how would you proceed? How did you proceed in the future? What kinds of ways? In what kinds of ways did you support your co-workers in the past?

Those kinds of questions that give you a sense, is this person somebody whose initial response, do they have a plight towards kindness and treating other people well, or are they going to manipulate and blame. Nobody's going to say, I'm going to manipulate and blame. But you'll get kind of clues. And perhaps the biggest clue is the absence of kindness. They might tell you whatever answer, but if an element of treating other people well, supporting them, being kind is missing, that's a clue in itself, right?

The Ideal Work Environment

Because what you want is that environment, not so that you can, you know, do Kumbaya during lunchtime and play the guitar and be all, you know, like, super extra nice. But really, those teams that understand the importance of hard work, but also the importance of making each other better together, making it a comfortable, nice work environment, those are the fantastic places to work in the first place.

So that's the mindset that I would offer you to take everywhere in your personal life, in your career, everywhere you go. That's the world that I would like to live in. And that's the world that I would invite you to also want to live in.