Eccentric VS Conventional: Fostering Genuine Connections Across Cultures and Contexts
I am a big believer in how important it is to understand and appreciate others. I have blogged about this topic before in posts like, Building Relationships By Understanding and Appreciating. Then today in The Father Brown Stories I read a comment imposed by G. K. Chesterton on Father Brown saying, “To tell the truth, I was thinking how little some kinds of people know about other kinds of people” (p. 258). This is so true and drives home my belief in seeing every human as a unique individual. This is such an important attribute of human centered leadership.
In the context of Chesterton’s story he used the examples of English Barristers and Poets. Chesterton said, “They would think he must be rather eccentric; but he isn’t at all eccentric, he’s only conventional. They would think so, because they don’t know anything about…” (p. 258). Think about that. How many times has someone thought you were eccentric or quirky because that someone did not know anything about you. If we’re honest, we’ve done this same things to others. I work really hard at not doing this. Again, understand and appreciate!
This reminded me of another post I wrote back in 2020 after reading the great book Joyful: The Surprising Power Of Ordinary Things To Create Extraordinary Happiness by Ingrid Fetell Lee. Lee taught us not to feel bound by convention; break the mold and bring joy to the world. We need to use playful design and embrace our quirkiness. I wrote about this in Leading With A Touch Of Quirkiness.
To be effective leaders we need to recognize that we don’t have all the answers or full knowledge of others’ lived realities. Cultivating an inclusive culture involves making genuine efforts to understand diverse viewpoints, experiences, and values within an organization. By acknowledging the gaps in our understanding—much like the Chesterton’s quotes suggest—we can foster empathy, reduce biases, and create an environment where everyone feels valued, heard, understood, and appreciated.
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