In this session we continue through the book “Leadership & Self-Deception, picking up in chapter six. Up to this point we have been introduced to Tom, a new employee and he is now in a company orientation session with a man name Bud. Bud explaining some real-life situations, and some painful realities. To catch up on the previous sessions you can check them out here –> prior sessions.

In the previous session we learned about the challenges we face everyday. Decisions and actions.  Our mind races through situations rationalizing actions and responses. If I do this then this. Or if I do that, that will happen.  A lot of the influence that goes into our thinking at this point is “others”. If I do this, they will think… or If I do it this way, then they will ….

We all are faced with decisions and how we take in all the data and rationalize it is a study within a study, but there are a couple concepts we can touch on. This rational thinking we do, it happens regardless of our environment, the people or even the problem.

Sometimes we we actually alter who we are as we think about a choice. Like how are we dressed or where are we when we are faced with choice.

Can you think of a time when you made a choice in a situation, based on the location or individuals around, that you would have “handled” differently if the situation was different?  What were the influencers?

As we pick up in our reading in chapter six. Bud continues on to describe this thinking process. As we listen in on the meeting, capture times when you may have had similar situations. What were your thoughts, who were the people involved, what were your decisions?

READ CHAPTER 6

figure 1

Experience myself as a person among people: out of the box
Experience myself as the person among objects: in the box

This can also be labeled “objectifying”.  Where we interact with our world, but everything is an object.

Can you think of a time when you may have objectified a situation? What were some of your thoughts and rationale in the situation. If you look back and changed you mindset (got out of the box). What would the situation have been like? What would have changed?

In the conversation in the chapter as it concluded Tom shared a situation where a female co-worker used his conference room spontaneously and erased his whiteboard. Then he went on to explain he confronted her.

Bud summarized the situation as Tom being in the box and not treating the co-worker as a person, but an object.

Can you recall a situation where you have objectified a real person? (NOTE: this is not limited to work situations)

In the Bible we can have several examples of this box behavior on display.

Luke 10:30-37

After reading that message from Jesus, can you see the individuals that were objectifying others? Can you see how some were “in-the-box” while one was not?

John 4:1-42

As illustrated in John’s message, Jesus clear relates to the woman “out-of-the-box”. Jesus, God himself, treats the female as a person, not an object. She has been objectified by people most of her life. Then this rabbi comes along “out-of-the-box” and treats as if she was truly a person among other people. We can also know by the situation that the Jews objectified the people of Samaria. They did not treat them as people, but more like objects.

This weeks challenge

As you go about your week, think if you are acting in the box, or out of the box. If you catch yourself, it the box, capture the moment for meditation, but most importantly, see if you can get out of the box while you are in the situation.

Reflect on the two examples in scripture we read and during the week see if your bible reading might have a few more examples.