Rios Gregersen

New Book Encourages Openness to Thrive Through Change and Obstacles Ann Van Eron's new book Open Stance: Thriving Amid Differences and Uncertainty convincingly shows us that the simplest way we can improve our relationships and deal with life's changes and obstacles is to be open-minded, or adopt an open stance.    The book opens with a powerful quote by Jim Collins, which perfectly sums up why this open stance is essential: "If the first two decades of the twenty-first century have taught us anything, it really is that uncertainty is chronic, instability is permanent, disruption is common, and we are able to neither predict nor govern events. There will be no new normal. There will only be a continuous group of not normal episodes defying prediction and unforeseen by the majority of us until they happen." The response many of us might feel to the tumultuous change all around us is to run and hide. Ann Van Eron understands that. She describes a vacation she took to Santorini, Greece, which she thinks of as her oasis because there she learned to relax, quit stressing, and be open to that which was around her.    Since being on a perpetual vacation is not an option for most people, Ann encourages us to find our own oases or pleasant memories of that time period when we felt open and relaxed and apply them to situations in our lives that may be more difficult. When we approach our obstacles with exactly the same openness we approach a secondary or other positive things, we can shift to being more open-minded and finding ways to appreciate even probably the most difficult situations or arrived at find common ground with people we previously felt were too different for us to see eye-to-eye with.    Of course, being open or closed is all a state of mind. Ann teaches us how to be aware of when we are closed-to be familiar with our thoughts and how they might be sabotaging us or preventing us from taking an open stance that will bring us greater fulfillment or peace of mind. She reminds us that people each have an interior spin doctor who tells us stories about situations, other people, and ourselves. We need to be aware of when the spin doctor is operating, twisting perspectives to create us look good among others less so. By watching our thoughts and to other people, we are able to open a door to possibilities.    As a small business consultant, Ann spent some time working with numerous organizations to instruct their members how to take such an open stance. She has witnessed firsthand how companies confronted with diversity challenges have had employees shift to being open so that they could co-create solutions. Now in Open Stance, she shares the various tools and processes that have worked for the many people she has guided through the process. The book is split into four sections. Part One argues the case for being open, Part Two offers a process for shifting to being open, Part Three shares practices for embodying an open stance, and Part Four encourages us to take action from an open stance to help make the world a better place, whether in simple ways or larger ones in your local or global community.    Throughout the book, Ann shares not only her very own experiences helping others to be more open, but she backs up her statements with research, showing, for instance, how employees tend to be more engaged if they are open and experiencing wellbeing. The effect for companies is greater financial success and positive effect on their customers. By developing a workplace that's more open, people feel psychology safe, and then they are more ready to share ideas, tend to be more creative, and work better together.    While being open may appear easy, it requires understanding how to listen to other folks to comprehend them. Ann discusses such topics as empathy and how exactly to most probably to and curious about others. She also cautions us never to assume we are able to easily understand another. Can we really know very well what it's like to be in a wheelchair or even to be unable to get a cab because of our skin color? However, we are able to listen to others and arrived at understand why they contain the beliefs and opinions they achieve this we can find common ground.    openai history can also expand our emotional vocabulary to better listen to ourselves. For instance, rather than use basic descriptions of emotions like happy, sad, or angry, we can expand to pinpoint whether we are frustrated, irritated, afraid, or annoyed. By becoming more alert to our emotions, we can develop greater emotional intelligence. We shall also then be better in a position to notice what emotions others are responding from so we can respond easier to them.    Some of this may seem like common sense, but it is easy to forget these practices if we are closed. Additionally it is an easy task to forget what long-lasting ripple effects we are able to create by just having "compassionate curiosity" and connecting to each other. Open Stance's final section is a true tour-de-force vision of how good the world could be if we simply focus on being open, try to be optimistic, and express gratitude.

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