Judgement Deception

Everyone judges others, situations, and opportunities, but judgment is part of a leader's job description.  Leaders are expected to realistically, wisely, and relatively quickly judge "facts" to make decisions that affect the lives of others.

The challenge is what you might call judgment deception.  Let me suggest some thoughts to ponder:

1. One Standard:  We judge others more correctly, fairly and wisely when we first judge ourselves by the same standard to which we require of them.  Before judging mentally or sharing judgment, first confirm you consistently demonstrate the behaviors you desire.  DECEPTION:  Too often the standard required of others is higher than the standard required by the person judging, yet we are deceived into believing our conclusions are fair.
2. Foundation:  The emotional foundation of our judgment is partially, if not primarily, motivated by our wounds in life.  Take some time to study your wounds and heal, or at least learn to recognize how they affect your reactions and responses to others.  DECEPTION:  We all have them - childhood wounds, marriage wounds, career wounds...  and often they deceive us from the truth, and tilt our perspective and conclusions more than we realize.
3. Speed:  He who is quick to judge often puts foot in mouth up to kneecap...  offends others, makes mistakes, and hurts relationships.  Simply keeping our mouth shut and developing a discipline of considering BOTH SIDES of an issue yields much higher results.  DECEPTION:  There can be a sense that we have to deal with something immediately rather than wait.  Most of the time this is not true, but some evil force seems to pleasure in our quick decisions and the damage it causes (whether we realize it or not).

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged..." sounds great, but leaders have to make judgment calls.  Please consider whether your approach to judgment could be improved by any of the three insights above. 

It is Monday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  

1. Did you take Sanctuary time over the weekend to improve your focus?
2. How did you do on your 3Strands last week?
3. Have you defined your 3Strands for this week?
4. By 9:00 a.m. this morning you should have 3Strands emails from each of your direct reports.

Stay on track.