Have you tried using any of the insight and techniques for growing trust and sincerity? How did it go?
Trust is very important in life, not only in maintaining strong relationships, but also creating and building them. When I meet someone new, I always try to remain open and as non-judgmental as possible, and project a disposition of kindness towards them. Everyone has their own struggles they are going through. Being kind and open will hopefully make the other person(s) feel more open as a result, and thus a bond of trust can be built.
Try empathic listening - how did it go?
I haven't had the opportunity to try this yet, but I like the idea of it. Increasing mindfulness, kindness, and curiosity are very important components in general life, as well as in conversations with other people.
How did you find the loving kindness meditation?
I found it to be very beneficial. Seeing and feeling a situation from another persons perspective can really help elevate our levels of kindness and empathy. It can be easy in life to think that our own perspective is the right one, but life is not black and white. Taking a step back, and viewing things differently is important. If I find a person to be unpleasant, I'd like to try loving kindness meditation with that person's image to see whether it can help me understand his or her behaviour and how it affects my feelings towards the person afterwards.
Complete the political awareness exercise here in writing.
This isn't really a big 'conflict' per se, but... When I was working in Dublin, I had a six month contract for a small government agency - the IPA. The culture was really good. I enjoyed working there and liked the company of my co-workers. I found it a little bit strange that there was no Friday afternoon wind-down time though. People would clock off and head home. The boss was likeable, but wasn't a particularly sociable guy. I believed this to be the reason. (I'm not exactly the life of the party, but I was travelling and on my first OE, so having a good time was always at the forefront of my mind). One day I spoke with him about the idea of having co-worker drinks at the end of the shift on Friday's. He said he'd think about it.
In the end, we were finishing half an hour early on Friday, and the work culture was even better than when I started there!
I saw his points about the dangers of having alcohol on site, and people maybe feeling like they didn't want to participate. But we kept it very moderate and inclusive. He trialled it, gave it a go, and it worked. He saw my viewpoint, I saw his, and we met somewhere in the middle.