The Colonel detested prejudice in all its forms. He said, “You can’t be significant and close-minded, kid. The two are mutually exclusive.”
The dictionary defines prejudice as: “Unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, especially of a hostile nature, regarding a racial, religious, or national group.” I would agree with that and go a step beyond it. My definition of prejudice is any negative feeling toward anyone who looks, thinks, believes, behaves, speaks, dresses, smells, moves, or functions differently than I do. That is, any negative feelings toward anyone who is different because they are different.
Prejudice is not something inherent in us at birth. Small children don’t shy away from playing with someone because they look or sound different. Small children are not afraid to ask the simple, often blunt questions that will help them to understand. Prejudice is taught and molded into children by their parents.
We all have prejudices, whether we are willing to admit it or not. The question then becomes, are we willing to live comfortably in those prejudices or are we willing to get uncomfortable and learn about something different than ourselves? You may not understand someone’s beliefs, their sexual identity, their cultural norms, or their life experiences coming from a different past environment than you do. Still, you limit yourself by not trying to understand, by not seeking insight, by not asking questions.
To dismiss something, or worse, someONE, because you have no common frame of reference is to make yourself small, through your ignorance in choosing not to investigate. So, ask questions. Endeavor to learn about something you don’t understand. Build a common ground wherein prejudice is lessened or eliminated. You grow automatically when you have an openness toward learning about different cultures, ethnic norms, beliefs – what is acceptable to and what might be construed as offensive to someone else.
You can’t be significant and close-minded. The two are mutually exclusive.
Text SIGNIFICANCE to 411321 for Lauren’s White Paper: Leadership Accountability – It Starts With YOU.
Read Lauren’s Whitepaper on The Nine Essentials of Significant Leadership.
Pick up the Colonels of Wisdom Series Vol 1 and Vol 2 here.