TITLE: Needs, Courage, and Respect AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford DATE: December 10, 2006 1:48 PM DESC: ----- BODY: Two comments from the human side of our world have caught my eye in the last little bit: On needs, courage, and respect Dale Emery relates these concepts concisely:
A big part of courage is remembering that my needs matter. A big part of respect is remembering that the other person's needs matter.
In many ways, it's easier for me to integrate the latter into my daily life than the former. I usually feel guilty for placing my needs too high in the pecking order. Perhaps I place too much concern on the risk of being self-centered. (And that probably because I already have that weakness!) On badmouthing one's competitor A lot of folks have linked to Tom Peters' article on "loving thine enemy", but my take on Peters' article best matches Jason Yip's take:
My take on this is that I don't want to be someone who badmouths other people for my own self-interest. And that's enough.
Well said. I'm certainly sympathetic to the pragmatists' philosophical stance, which would summarize Peters' position as saying that working to hurt your competitors "doesn't work". But one ought not need an economic or altruistic reason not to speak ill of others. It is simply wrong. -----