Until you dedicate yourself sufficiently to conversations for relationship, your criticisms, judgements, suggestions and requests will have nowhere to land.

Without a background of sufficient relationship it does not matter how well-intentioned you are, how insightful, how right. What you have to say is likely to be at best meaningless, at worst experienced as an attack.

It’s extraordinary how, in many places, we have decided that we’re only working when we’re getting ourselves or others to do things, or when we’re setting each other straight.

We could do with remembering that we’re also working when we’re taking care of trust and understanding, both of which are the foundations upon which almost everything else becomes possible.

Photo Credit: Mr & Mrs Stickyfingers via Compfight cc