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Are you a “people person”? Whether or not you consider yourself a people person, all of us need to have very good people skills and know how best to deal with others. Here’s our fifth basic people skill:
5. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes.
Jesus gave us what we’ve called “The Golden Rule” and it is still the best basis of dealing successfully with people. You’ll find it in Luke 6: “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31).
This is always a “win-win” attitude. When I purposely stop and try to put myself in the other person’s shoes, I will of course treat that person with more consideration, patience and kindness, and I will also reduce my own stress and frustration because I’m not thinking about me, I’m thinking about the other person.
We add immeasurable stress to our lives by being focused on ourselves and making sure we get what’s coming to us. Any little infraction of our rights then causes an emotional reaction, which causes stress. However, when we are focused on the other person, how they feel, why they are behaving the way they are, etc., we forget ourselves and that stress never has a chance to get started.
Are you aware of the power of empathy? Do you regularly express empathy to others? Remember, empathy goes a very long way, and you will greatly enhance your ability to get along with people by really putting yourself in their shoes and verbally expressing statements of empathy. Look for opportunities to do that today, and see how well it works!
Remember, people are more important to God than projects, and God loves all those people around you just as much as he loves you. So, ask him to make you sensitive to others and aware of what you need to do to improve your people skills. Of course, it will benefit you greatly to do that, but more importantly, it will make you a better representative of Jesus Christ. I challenge you, as I do myself, to make that a high priority in your life.
Click here if you would like a copy of Mary’s book, How to Thrive from 9 to 5.
If you would like to read the entire week’s message click here for a pdf.