Listen!

Today’s post is going to be different in a few ways.  First, I’m going to be brief.   Second, I’m going to go a lot closer to that political thing we avoid here than usual.  Third, I’m not going to hide my distress about the topic.

The President of The United States – of ALL the United States – went to give a speech to school kids.  The topic of the speech boiled down to telling kids to work hard, stay in school, and take control of their own destinies by making sure they get the most out of school.  Pretty inoffensive, right?  Not bad advice?  Yet members of the opposition party went nuts, telling the President, without seeing the speech, that he was wrong to do this.  So did a number of political commentators.  They rushed to judgment without the facts.

Maybe you just did the same.  I’m talking about 1991, when GHW Bush was president and it was the Dems screaming.  It was wrong then, and it’s just as wrong now.

Among the worst mistakes we make, as people and as business people, is not listening, not researching the facts and rushing to judgment with knee-jerk reactions.  Obama wasn’t trying to brainwash kids into doing anything other than being all they can be.  Neither was Bush.  And the absolute crap that some are now pushing after the speech that “he changed it” when every one of them admits they didn’t see early versions nor know anything for a fact is the most irresponsible form of speculation.

You can’t run a business on seeing the world as you see fit.  You need facts, not things you or others make up out of thin air.  To get them, you need to listen, you need to research, and you need to look beyond slogans toward the motivations of those who offer the facts.

That’s all from me.  How about from you?  I’m listening.