Advice From George Washington

When George Washington was president two of his all-star cabinet members were Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. By any standards, any president would be lucky to have two individuals of such high caliber on their team. Unfortunately, Jefferson and Hamilton did not get along. As a result, the two were always nipping at each other's heels and causing Washington a great deal of anxiety over their constant bickering. One day, after hearing complaints from each about the other, Washington called the two into his office and urged them to begin looking at each other with "greater charity." While that advice did not totally cool the negative feelings Jefferson and Hamilton felt toward each other, it did cause them to lighten up a bit.

Fast forward to Washington, D.C. today and it seems as if a number of politicians, political pundits and observers could and should follow our first president's directive. The latest example revolves around President Obama's first nominee to the Supreme Court: Sonia Sotomayor. Since her nomination was announced less than a week ago as of this writing, this woman's critics have erupted like a pack of mad dogs. Among other things, she has been called a bigot, not bright and a liar. Wow. The meanness of these attacks is absolutely breath taking. While I am not saying there are not a few public figures on our landscape who do not deserve those labels, I do suggest that those kind of individuals are rare. Sotomayor is not one of them, nor has she done anything to warrant the visciousness of attacks of this nature.

A major part of effective communication is very much in the spirit of Washington's advice to Jefferson and Hamilton. True, we all make mistakes. From time to time we all say things we wish we could rephrase. We even have perspectives with which others disagree. But none of that makes us bad people or, more specifically, liars, bigots or stupid. Instead, they make us what we are: human. Viewing others with charity helps foster better relations and, in the end, helps generate better opportunities for sustained dialog. It is an important attitude that we as communicators need to carry inside of us at all times.