Win/Win Instead of Whine/Whine

From corporate life to community life we've seen a change in recent decades from top down leadership to a more grass-roots and consensus building approach to leadership and I think this is a good thing. We are all more interconnected than ever so why not build a consensus on some areas of common ground before moving forward? In my experience those organizations that foster a sense of belonging and work to hear the voice of each individual are the ones that experience the most long-term success.

I'm going to go out on a political limb here and say that I'm not generally seeing our elected representatives behave in such a way and we, as voters, are not holding them responsible. And we aren't holding ourselves responsible either, but more on that in a  minute!

Whether an elected official is in the minority or majority wouldn't it be refreshing to hear them say that they honor the views of those that disagree with them? That they will work to find common ground so that a solution for an issue can be found? How about a willingness to admit they were wrong? Exhibiting a "mountain top view" of what the whole country needs and not a select group of constituents in their district or state? Finding real solutions instead of just getting reelected?

As leaders we've come to know that win/win is the ultimate goal and that sometimes means giving up part of what we want in order to find a workable solution and create goodwill for the next time around. But all I'm hearing from politicians is whine/whine because they are stuck in you win/I lose, I win/you lose or lose/lose. Not very attractive or productive.

But it's too easy for us to complain and allow ourselves to get stuck in the endless feedback loop of talk radio and other opinion sellers. What if we held ourselves accountable and realized that we're just as big a part of the whining? When will we acknowledge that we can't expect government to shrink and still do all the things we've come to expect from it? And what are we willing to give up for the larger good? Why do we ask for lower taxes and then wonder why there's a pothole in the road? Do we offer solutions or just sound bites? Do we assist our elected officials in their jobs even if they aren't the "right" party for us? Do we educate ourselves on the issues so that we aren't swayed by inflamed emails to vote a certain way?

There are a lot of ways I'm looking at myself right now and asking if I'm the best citizen I can be. I can't expect those that represent me to do a better job until I'm prepared to work for win/win instead of whine/whine.