I’ll keep this post short today. By now you’re familiar with the concept of assuming positive intent and why you should do it, even though the concept might be outside your comfort zone. You know that the key to the concept is communication — specifically, being a good receiver of communication, and being cognizant of the fact that you may not have all the information necessary to assume you know someone’s intentions.
The final thought I want to leave you with in this series is this:
Welcome back! So far this week, I’ve touched on what it means to assume positive intent, why you should do it, and why you shouldn’t let the fear stop you from doing it. Today, I want to get down to the real essence of what this whole “Assume Positive Intent” thing is about: COMMUNICATION.
So far this week I’ve written about what it means to assume positive intent and why you should. Today, I want to quiet a very real fear that many people have when thinking about assuming positive intent in others.
Yesterday I discussed the meaning of the phrase “Assume Positive Intent.” Today I’m going to answer the really important question:
A few years ago, I was sitting in a conference room, getting ready to watch a presentation from one of our senior executives. The presentation began with a simple video – just some uplifting phrases with upbeat background music.
To be honest, I don’t remember much of that video, or the presentation and meeting that followed it. The one piece that stuck with me – and probably the #1 best lesson I’ve taken from any meeting I’ve ever been in – is this phrase:
Assume Positive Intent.
I’ve been thinking about gender equality and women in the workplace a fair amount lately. And after my recent blog series on the topic, I’m helping to start a Lean In Circle at work, which I’m extremely excited about. Empowering women to take charge of their careers is extremely important. Studies have shown that women and men — and a company’s bottom line — all benefit when women have the opportunity to succeed.
Today I want to focus on the “women taking charge” part. You can do your best to empower someone all day long, but ultimately the burden is on the individual to move away from their comfort zone and start making a change for themselves.
For the first weekend of properly tackling our DC Bucket List, we decided to stay pretty close to home. In fact, we only had to go a couple exits up the highway to get to our first stop.
I’ve lived in the DC Area for approximately 3 years now. Unfortunately, I’ve fallen in the trap that many people do when they live in a tourism-centric area: you forget that you’re surrounded by sights and experiences that people pay money to come visit your city for.
Jen McFarland 