Kim Scott

So I needed to go to this place and talk to these people, not because I was going in prepared to change my mind, if I'm honest, I was not, but I also wasn't going in

trying to change their mind.

I was going in thinking if I understand their point of view, it will help me deepen my thinking, and maybe I can find some common ground with these people.

You're gonna hear more about common ground.

Maybe I can learn to like these people.

And as I gave the talk, I got to the Q&A, and it was going really well.

We were having a great conversation, and there was this voice inside my head, like screaming at me, saying, Kim,

These people are not your enemies.

These are your fellow Americans.

And it really made me take a deep breath.

I was like, why would I not have come to speak with these people?

After the conference was over, somebody came up to me and said, Kim, do you believe this?

Do you believe that?

I said, yes, I did.

They kind of cocked their head and they said, huh, you don't seem like an evil person.

And I would have thought that person was ridiculous, except that I had just had pretty much the same thought myself five minutes previously.

So how does this work?

Some of the best relationships of my career have happened with people who I disagree with.

And because I care about these people, it's easier for me to challenge them.

And because I challenge them, it's easier to care.