We Have to Get Out of Our Feelings and Objectively Listen to Rationally Respond
Everyone is not Against You
I get it. As a Black woman living in a world where I am constantly reminded by the media, Black advocates, and attempted oppressors that I am the most marginalized, under-valued, disrespected person in America, it can seem like everyone and everything is against me. That is if I allow that perception to be my reality…but that’s a different article.
Perhaps it is my STEM and leadership backgrounds that have taught me to be data-driven and think like a man while being a lady in the office. I have witnessed subjective versus objective conversations and learned that subjective discussions driven by bias lead to miscommunication marked by the inability to truly hear what a person is saying because your mind is so definitive in your position. When your emotions are more open than your mind, you are more subjective than objective.
For clarity, to be subjective is to be emotionally driven, and to be objective is to be fact-driven. To apply this to conversations, whether you are listening or speaking, to be subjective is to speak or listen from a biased, emotional perspective while being objective allows you to put your emotions away and hear a perspective that is beyond the layer of your bias.
