I meet a fair number of people daily, for business or on a personal basis . I find it most interesting that all of us have uniquely different ways of looking at the same thing. Over the last week I have had some interesting experiences showcasing how two people in the same boat can be looking at the picture in totally different ways.

I was coaching a team whose performance had been lagging in the last couple of quarters. During our one-on-one feedback sessions, one of the team members was constantly blaming external circumstances being the primary reason for his not operating at an optimum level. He blamed the organization for not providing an environment in which creativity and performance was fostered. He had hence decided, that he would stop giving his 100% and was just ‘making do’ in his current role. Another team member however, realized that even though the environment was not the best, he would not let it affect him negatively, instead he took on the responsibility to be the change he wanted to see in this environment. He started with his own team and department. Jim Collins refers to these as “pockets of greatness” (Audio).

There is no doubt this is an uphill task when one person is up against 9 others who share a different perspective. However he took up the challenge and after our coaching was completed he became a role model for the team and productivity and morale soared. Management began to take notice and some structural changes were made.

The lesson I learned was, each one of us has a unique perspective on life according to our inbuilt value and belief systems . Sometimes these systems are so strong that they cloud our judgement and refuse to let us look any other way. Being part of a startup or a multi national it is your responsibility to remain open and flexible about the view points of others. Don’t judge them, nor deliberately criticize them or blindly embrace them. Take time out to look at it from their perspective, what you see, may just pleasantly surprise you.