{"id":8578,"date":"2017-07-17T04:45:18","date_gmt":"2017-07-17T09:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/?p=8578"},"modified":"2017-07-17T04:45:18","modified_gmt":"2017-07-17T09:45:18","slug":"why-leaders-cannot-afford-to-be-easily-offended","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/why-leaders-cannot-afford-to-be-easily-offended\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Leaders Cannot Afford to Be Easily Offended"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here is one big downside to being a leader: You are going to draw fire. You will have critics, trolls, second-guessers, and people who insist on thinking the worst of you.
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\nYou may be falsely accused of wrong motives and much worse. It\u2019s not any fun, but it goes with the territory. And your job in the midst of all this criticism is to keep your head clear and not respond in anger.
\n<\/p>\n

The Temptation to Lash Out<\/h3>\n

I have been called many horrible things publicly, including a hypocrite. I won\u2019t lie. It stings, and I am sometimes tempted to respond in kind<\/a>.
\nIt would be so easy\u2014and so disastrously wrong.
\nAs a rule, I refuse to take the bait. But that sort of restraint is never easy. I often have to remind myself of three great truths I have learned, and am still learning, along the way about how to deal with offenses.<\/p>\n

1. Offenses Are Inevitable<\/h3>\n

Life affords us opportunities to be offended every day. As you work to make a difference in your organization, people inside and out will find reasons to disagree\u2014and worse. You will be the cause of offense from time to time whether you mean to or not.
\nThat people\u2014especially in the age of social media\u2014are going to take offense doesn\u2019t mean you or your team should be insensitive or shrug it off when it happens.
\nBut it\u2019s important to understand that people are going to take umbrage, in spite of your best efforts. It helps to prepare you to respond the right way.<\/p>\n

2. Offenses Can Be Turned Around and Used for Good<\/h3>\n

If you are prepared when people both take and give offense, it can help to set your organization up for success.
\nMartin Luther King Jr.<\/a> is a personal hero. One of the reasons the civil rights movement was so successful under his leadership were the offenses endured by those marching and protesting for equal dignity under the law.
\nIt shocked and changed the mind of the nation. How?<\/p>\n

3. Being Offended Is a Choice<\/h3>\n

As Dr. King promised in his \u201cI Have a Dream\u201d speech, marchers and boycotters would meet \u201cpolice brutality\u201d not with anger and violence but with \u201csoul force.\u201d And that\u2019s what they did.
\nDid people outside the movement take offense at this? Absolutely. Did they respond with anger and even violence? Some did.
\nBut others saw Dr. King suffering in jail for his beliefs, reasoning with his jailers, forcefully but respectfully insisting that the United States must recognize the equal dignity of all its people.
\nKing's choice showed them they had a choice too. It created the option to choose a different path.<\/p>\n

Who Takes the High Road?<\/h3>\n

Granted, whatever struggle you face trying to change things in your organization, it doesn\u2019t have nearly the weight as the civil rights movement.
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