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“Your mind didn’t develop in a vacuum, apart from people.”

A thought by John Townsend from his book, Leading From Your Gut (p. 57). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

People are so very important in your mind development.

John says, “Being a clear and productive thinker requires the ability to craft thoughts and ideas in terms of relationships. Your mind didn’t develop in a vacuum, apart from people. And it is a mistake to keep your thinking divorced from people—what they mean to you and how your thoughts will affect them. No matter what your area of leadership is, people are part of it. You lead people, you influence people, and you matter to people. Your organization has something to do with some service to people, whether a computer, a bank loan, a home, education, medical care, groceries, personal growth, or a retail outlet. This means it’s necessary to keep people in mind when you create opportunities and solve problems. You can do this in two ways: connecting your thoughts and considering the impact of your thoughts. Let’s take a look at these two aspects of thinking relationally.”

He goes on, “Connect your thoughts. Connecting your thoughts simply means bringing what you’re thinking about to others. We are primarily designed to be relational beings, and real meaning and purpose derives from relationship. So, the ideas, solutions, dilemmas, new visions, and improvements you come up with will do better when you talk about them with others. You engage with people, and they are drawn to what you are thinking. They are energized by and drawn to your leadership. You, in turn, are enriched by their contributions.”

He continues, “Consider the impact of your thoughts. The other part of thinking relationally is considering the impact of your thoughts. Whatever group you are leading, it matters ultimately to people because people are what matter. You affect the end users of whatever you are producing. You matter to those end users. Keep those end users in mind at all times. They have difficult and complex lives. You want to provide something that makes those lives better in some way.”

 John says, “You will have an impact, one way or another. So, keep your thoughts connected to relationships, and keep people’s faces in front of you. There is no better way to have your thoughts integrated with the rest of your inner world than to be a relational thinker.”

People matter.  They really do.  And it is so important for us to see the impact we have on them and they on us.  You see that, don’t you? 

Yes, yes!
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