Getting through to Anybody: Taking Responsibility

    I don't know how heartfelt or sincere John McCain's concession speech was last Tuesday, but there was much in it to be admired, learned from and emulated by all Americans. The two most important elements were in his going from critical to gracious and from making excuses to taking full responsibility for the results as the commander-in-chief of his campaign.

As a management consultant, group facilitator, team builder and marriage therapist I have taken to setting the stage by asking the participants three questions:

1. What would success look like at the end of this meeting?

2. What would be the effect on achieving that success if everyone could monitor themselves so that instead of being critical and disrespectful they were gracious and respectful and instead of blaming someone else or making excuses for problems they were to acknowledge and take personal responsibility for their contribution to causing them?

3. How can we institutionalize this?

If Americans in their dealing with each other in their families, marriages, divorces, communities, work places, towns, cities and in reaching across the aisle in Washington and across oceans and borders to the rest of the world could practice that, there is no telling how much good will, cooperation, collaboration, peace of mind and peace on Earth we might find.

Why don't you give it a try? Couldn't hurt.