I wrote yesterday about “judgment”–as in good judgment and how it is important for us to know what triggers us and clouds our judgment. I realized however that for some of us, we get hitched up on the difference between judgment–the need to have good sense and a critical eye; to be able to evaluate a situation and make the best decision, and being judgmental–being too critical and passing judgment on people and situations based on our value systems and not being able to see things objectively. Being too judgmental can harm our home businesses.
Running a business demands that we be able to make decisions and look things over critically and choose the best direction. BUT–too much critical evaluation can bring us to the brink of being judgmental. We might rule out growth opportunities and not work well with other people because we are letting outdated belief systems or harmful value judgments keep us from seeing things clearly.
If you find yourself picking someone apart, or refusing to listen to a new idea or consider a direction for your business for reasons other than objective reasoning–you might want to examine what is really going on. Sure, your intuition might be telling you that is not the right choice for you–but it also might be your judgmental side coming through and taking over. You might not be seeing things objectively at all and judgmentalism is not a substitute for good, sound judgment.
If and when you catch yourself getting judgmental–it helps to remove yourself from the situation and try to get some objectivity. If there are other people involved, try to remain open and get their feedback on the situation. If it is just you battling it out with your own judgmentalism–it might take some time to let the emotional reaction subside so that you can think things through more clearly.