“human relations”… not-so-common-sense

I teach a course at the college called "Human Relations."

It's often misunderstood by both students AND staff because the title is so obviously deceptive.

Many people assume, and then zoom right on by the power of these two words; and therefore miss the potential power of the course and its many practical concepts.

The class is a combination of psychology and communication... what I call "communichology."

Human Relations = to relate (effectively) to other humans... pretty straight-forward right? Not necessarily...

This stuff is easy to talk about, but difficult to do.

Here's where it gets tricky...

Effectively relating to others requires us first to effectively relate to ourselves. This is no small task for many.

This subject is as internal as it is external... just like looking in a mirror is both an internal and external exercise simultaneously.

We first see ourselves, and then hopefully we "see" ourselves.

You see... we have to be truly in touch with ourselves before we can be truly effective with others.

The mirror has to reflect both ways.

Many "get" this, but fail to really get into it fully.

It's work. It's often difficult. But it's necessary.

There are 3 steps in this journey:

1) Awareness - We first have to tune-in and begin to know - what we don't know, or think we may know - but may be mistaken about our own psychology and communication skills.

To do: Admit that perception isn't always reality.

2) Education - Next, we need to set about learning more about ourselves, our history, our responsibility, and our blind spots, as well as the complex nuances of interpersonal communication with others.

To do: Take a Human Relations-type course, workshop, or seminar.

3) Application - Finally, we have to act on this awareness and education and begin an ongoing process of applying what we now know... now.

To do: Practice at home and on the job; a lot.

Far more than just common sense, human relations is a critical skill set that can be developed provided the proper amounts of courage, honesty, and ongoing diligence are present.

The importance of this discipline cannot be overstated.

Becoming a master of yourself affords you the opportunity to be masterful with others, in many kinds of situations, most of the time.

And who doesn't stand to benefit from that?

©2011 Tom Leu