Your Opinion Matters
August 25, 2010
Jeffrey Seglin, the author of “The Right Thing” weekly ethics column that is distributed by the New York Times Syndicate chose my entry on Piers Morgan to ask in his “sound off” question “Does Our Baggage Weigh US Down?” He asked his audience: “Assuming that Morgan has owned up to his errors, showed his remorse and offered a sincere apology, should he be forgiven for the baggage he carries? Or is a wrong a wrong, regardless of how the wrongdoer subsequently feels about it?” The last count indicated a 60 % in favor of forgiveness and 40 % opposed it. These numbers are reassuring because I believe forgiveness is a good indication of generosity. Generosity is a positive trait in society.
Your opinion matters. Politicians, marketers are fully aware that fact. In public relations we often try to change people’s opinion in favor of one of our clients.
But are we always entitled to our opinion? Sometimes I think we are not. It all depends on how informed, open-minded and unbiased we are.
People will value and respect our opinion only if they believe we are both credible and trustworthy.
We all want to earn the respect of others. We want to have the ability to give good advice and to persuade. What are the qualities or values that can earn that respect?
Let me list a few:
1. Reputation
The word respect comes from the Latin respicere which means look behind. It means that before we can respect someone we need to know how that person has behaved in the past, what is his or her reputation.
2. Truthfulness:
Being as truthful as we can and avoiding deception are key to building trust.
People need to know that what we say is true, or at the very least that we believe it is true.
3. Humility or Modesty:
We should be humble in our attitude and not think too highly of ourselves. We usually do not like people that “have all the answers” and are arrogant. Arrogance can be seductive for a short time but it soon loses its attraction and is discredited. We find it reassuring when someone of vast knowledge and experience admits that he or she does not have the answer to our questions. It is sometimes refreshing to hear “I do not know.” It augments our trust in that person because of his or her honesty and humility.
In today’s New York Times David Brooks in his Op-Ed called “A Case of Mental Courage” laments that “we are all less conscious of our severe mental shortcomings and less inclined to be skeptical of our own opinions.” He adds that “few in public life habitually step back and think about the weakness in their own thinking.”
The 19th Century America clergyman, Philip Brooks once said:
“The best advisors … give us, out of themselves, the ardent spirit and desire to act right, and leave us then, even through many blunders, to find out what our own form of right action is.”
P.S. You have three more days to respond to Jeffrey Seglin’s question. http://jeffreyseglin.blogspot.com/
Your opinion does matter!
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