Proud Being Abhatians
Having pride in a community where we are is very important. This sense can bring our whole attitude to show the superiority of the community. Therefore, it is very important for an organization, especially all leaders to make team members feel proud of their team or organization (community). However, far more than that, it would be better if all team members could develop mutual pride with each other.
Lots of articles that discuss techniques in growing and developing this sense of pride. In this paper, I will discuss 2 (two) things (which in my opinion) are important for us to have as part of the team (in this case Abhatians). The first is Respect Others (respect for others). Respect Others is a sentence that we often hear in everyday life. Even my child who is currently in grade 1 (one) elementary school has learned this word and made it an important rule in his class. In accordance with our first value, respecting others is a form of the first Value (Integrity and Transparency). What is the real form of respecting others? I invite all of us to focus on 2 (two) things, namely listening and giving opportunities to others. Maybe there are those who feel that these two things are easy, but many also feel that these two things are difficult to do.
Listening and giving others opportunities is a behavior that shows that we have succeeded in defeating our personal egos and have begun to pay attention to others. In other words, we try to be more humble. In everyday life, we tend to focus on our wants without looking at other people’s perspectives. By doing both behaviors, other people feel “considered” or “wongk-e (in Javanese).” This is in accordance with the opinion of a figure (Abraham Maslow), that 2 (two) highest human needs are the need for appreciation and self-actualization. When we listen and give opportunities to others, it is directly related to these two needs. Even we also need these two things from other people.
The second thing we have to do is use Positive Words. Many people feel that choosing words is a less important thing and most importantly, they convey what they feel or think about. Is that right? In my opinion, this depends on the conditions or the purpose we convey the sentence. In a context where we want to foster pride in the team, we need to think about each word or sentence we want to say.
There is a saying that “the spoken word is prayer.” Meanwhile, the figures of Positive Psychology state that the word we say can call a character that is in someone. Therefore, when we want to reprimand someone, then call the positive character in that person with positive words or sentences. This will make the person feel that he has this positive character. Are you still in doubt? Please try and get the results! The thing to remember is to do consistently with the right people.
As part of Abhatians, I feel that many of us (including leaders) are very trying to do both. At every opportunity and training, company leaders often remind us to do this. However, when this is not yet perfect, keep in mind that everyone processes to become a better person. Therefore, it is very important for us to remind and support each other, both to colleagues, subordinates, even to our superiors.
(Yessita Suseno, Nov 2018)
