The Good, The Bad & The Ugly



Ah yes, I love those old spaghetti westerns and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly is one of my favorites! Exploring The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (GBU) can also be used for personal development, leadership and conflict management. Let me explain.



It's easy to see the Bad and Ugly in others. Other people, organizations, societies, religions, cultures, etc. It's easy to believe that you're all right and everyone/thing else is all wrong or bad, or stupid. It's easy to judge, to put value on, or take value away based on beliefs, relative values or actions. The more we recognize that without exception we ALL have GBU inside of us. There is GBU in EVERY society, community, country & organization. When you begin to recognize that everyone is capable of Good, Bad and Ugly and that Life has value beyond those actions, thoughts, beliefs and values, we can deepen not only our understanding and empathy, but we then may have a better chance of  dealing with conflict better and inspiring more positive change in our world.

What do I mean Good, Bad, Ugly?
 
Some of the GOOD:
  • Love
  • Empathy
  • Kindness
  • Compassion
  • Patience
  • Respect

Some of the BAD:
  • Selfishness
  • Greed
  • Jealousy 
  • Shortsightedness

Bring the UGLY:
  • Hate
  • Violence
  • Deception
  • Disrespect 
  • Prejudice

Every human being has each of these things in us and it is up to us what we CHOOSE to feed. What we choose to believe, what we choose to do. How we choose to act has nothing to do with our value, however these things have great repercussions in our lives and the lives of everyone around us. How you experience life is ultimately your decision, your choice. As Charles Swindoll once said, "Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it."  I call it iexperience. Rather than going into it again, you can click HERE to read my post describing it. 

Leading and managing conflict from a clearer perspective, with greater skill and more courage is necessary for greater success and more sustainable progress. We need more clear, courageous and skilled leaders in our families, organizations, communities, countries and world today. We need YOU!

The more you recognize that  you have Good, Bad & Ugly in you, maybe then you can be more empathetic toward others. Understanding that the Good, Bad & Ugly are all in there for a reason and are a part of the human experience is essential as well. It's not healthy to try and resist the Bad and Ugly. As a matter of fact often the more you resist, the more it owns you. Now that is not to say that when you have to deal with someone who is embracing their bad or ugly, that you let them off the hook. No, you may have to deal with their behavior. You just don't disrespect them when you are doing it. Hopefully this understanding of GBU will make you more effective at dealing with yourself and others.

Here's a simple exercise for you to try:

1) Recognize the GBU in yourself.
2) Choose to feed the Good more than the Bad or Ugly.
3) Overtime, not overnight your choice becomes habit.
4) Keep going!

Simple not easy!


All the best,
~Craig


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